‘Ring of fire’ solar eclipse begins in Pakistan

The annular solar eclipse, popularly known as the ‘ring of fire’ has begun in Pakistan on Sunday.

Annular eclipses occur when the Moon — passing between Earth and the Sun — is not quite close enough to our planet to completely obscure sunlight, leaving a thin ring of the solar disc visible.

They occur every year or two, and can only been seen from a narrow pathway across the planet.

According to the met office, apart of southern parts of Pakistan, the solar eclipse would also be visible in parts of Africa including the Central African Republic, Congo and Ethiopia and in northern parts of India and China.

The Solar Eclipse that commenced at 09:26 am Pakistan Standard Time (PST) will conclude at 12:46 the afternoon. At approximately 10:59 am, the moon would completely eclipse the sun.

The Met department said the solar eclipse of June 21 (Sunday) would be fully visible in Karachi.

“Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) will have 90 per cent eclipse visibility while Karachi will have full visibility. The eclipse will be visible from Australia to Europe, as well as to people in Central Asia and Asian countries,” said the PMD.