Annular 'Ring of Fire' Solar Eclipse of February 6, 2027: Chile, Argentina, the South Atlantic and West Africa
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How we wrote this: A summary of NASA's Future Eclipses, Eclipse Viewing Safety and Types of Solar Eclipses pages and NASA Goddard's eclipse tables for this eclipse (linked below), checked October 29, 2026. Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak (NASA's GSFC). Times are in Universal Time (UT) unless noted.
On Saturday, February 6, 2027, the Moon passes in front of the Sun but doesn't quite cover it. Along a narrow path from the southern Pacific through Chile and Argentina, across the South Atlantic and up to the coast of West Africa, people will see the "ring of fire": a thin bright ring of Sun around the Moon's dark disk.
Why it's a ring, not totality
NASA explains that an annular eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth while it's at or near its farthest point from Earth. Because it's farther away, the Moon looks smaller than the Sun and can't cover it completely. Goddard's path table gives a Moon-to-Sun diameter ratio of 0.928 at greatest eclipse: the Moon's disk is about 93% as wide as the Sun's.
That's also why this eclipse is never safe to watch without eye protection, even at the peak. There's no moment of totality.
The key numbers
From NASA Goddard's 2021–2030 eclipse table:
| Type | Annular |
| Greatest eclipse | 16:00:47 TD (about 15:59:31 UT, or 10:59 a.m. EST) |
| Duration of the annular phase at greatest eclipse | 7 minutes 51 seconds |
| Magnitude | 0.928 |
| Saros series | 131 |
TD (Terrestrial Dynamical Time) is the predictions' timescale; Goddard's map for this eclipse uses a ΔT of 75.7 seconds.
Where to see the ring
NASA's Future Eclipses page says the annular eclipse will be visible in parts of South America and Africa, including Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria. Goddard's table summarizes the annular path as "Chile, Argentina, Atlantic." Much of the path crosses open ocean.
Points along the central line, from Goddard's path table (UT; durations on the central line):
| Time (UT) | Central line near | Ring lasts |
|---|---|---|
| 14:52 | 43°34′S, 73°40′W (southern Chile) | 7 min 29 s |
| 15:04 | 41°54′S, 67°26′W (Patagonia, Argentina) | 7 min 40 s |
| 15:40 | 35°26′S, 53°55′W (South Atlantic, off Uruguay) | 7 min 54 s |
| 17:52 | 5°07′N, 0°07′E (Gulf of Guinea, off Ghana) | 5 min 49 s |
By the time the shadow reaches West Africa, the table shows the Sun only about 4 degrees above the horizon, so there it's a ring-of-fire sunset that needs a clear western view.
The partial eclipse
Outside the narrow path, NASA says large areas of South America, Africa, Antarctica, and the South Pacific and South Atlantic oceans will see a partial eclipse. NASA's list doesn't include North America. Click any location on Goddard's interactive map (linked below) for local times and coverage.
How to watch it safely
From NASA's eclipse safety page:
- Wear eclipse glasses or use a handheld solar viewer the entire time, including during the ring. Safe viewers are thousands of times darker than sunglasses and should meet the ISO 12312-2 standard. Regular sunglasses are never enough.
- Inspect them first. Throw away any that are torn, scratched or damaged. Supervise children.
- No optics with eclipse glasses. Binoculars, telescopes and cameras concentrate sunlight and will burn through the glasses' filter. They need their own solar filters, attached to the front.
- No glasses? Use a pinhole projector: a small hole in a card projects the Sun onto a surface while you stand with your back to the Sun.
More in how to watch a solar eclipse safely.
Mark the calendar
Six months later comes the big one: the total solar eclipse of August 2, 2027 across southern Spain, North Africa and the Middle East. For other dated sky events, see full moon dates and the Quadrantid meteor shower.