CREDIT ESA/Royal Observatory of Belgium
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2026/02/Annular_solar_eclipse_seen_from_space
Remember: never look directly at the Sun, even when partially eclipsed, without proper eye protection such as special solar eclipse glasses, or you risk permanent eye damage.
by Neaterntal
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The Moon passed directly between the Sun and Earth on 17 February 2026, creating an annular solar eclipse. Because the Moon was at a more distant point along its elliptical orbit around Earth, it didn’t entirely cover the Sun and left a ‘ring of fire’.
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Proba-2 satellite captured this ring from its viewpoint in space. Flying around Earth, the spacecraft witnessed the same solar eclipse no less than four times, including this perfect ring of fire at 11:31 Universal Time. The images were taken by the spacecraft’s SWAP extreme ultraviolet imager, at a wavelength of 17.4 nanometres. Read the Proba-2 Science Center blog post about the eclipse here.
On Earth, this rare treat was only visible from Antarctica. A partial solar eclipse could be seen from the southern tip of Chile and Argentina, as well as southern Africa.
Upcoming solar eclipses will be visible from more populated regions. ESA is looking forward to three ‘European eclipses’ in the next two years: a total solar eclipse on 12 August 2026 (totality visible from Greenland, Iceland, Spain); a total solar eclipse on 2 August 2027 (southern tip of Spain, northern Africa & the Middle East); and an annular eclipse on 26 January 2028 (South America, Portugal, Spain).
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From its vantage point in orbit, the satellite was able to witness the annular solar eclipse in striking detail — not once, but four times during its orbit, including a perfect ‘ring of fire’ at 6:31 a.m. EST (1131 GMT) when the moon occulted just over 93% of the sun’s disk.
What is it?
An annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun while positioned farther from Earth during its slightly elliptical orbit. Because the moon appears a bit smaller in the sky at that distance, it doesn’t completely cover the sun’s disk (like we see during a total solar eclipse). Instead, a bright ring of sunlight encircles the moon’s silhouette, often called a ‘ring of fire’.
While Proba-2 had an unobstructed view from space, on Earth the full annular phase was only visible from remote locations in Antarctica, limiting the spectacle to just a small number of researchers stationed at remote scientific outposts … and a lot of penguins. Observers in the southern tip of Chile and Argentina, along with parts of southern Africa, witnessed a partial solar eclipse instead.
Why is it amazing?
Unlike observers on Earth, Proba-2 wasn’t limited to a single view. Thanks to its fast sun-synchronous orbit, the spacecraft crossed the eclipse zone four times and was able to witness the event from several perspectives.
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From space, the view was again quite different! Thanks to its fast sun-synchronous orbit, PROBA2 crosses the eclipse zone multiple times, allowing it to capture several unique perspectives. During its second passage, just over 93% of the solar disk was occulted by the Moon in an annular eclipse, producing the striking “ring of fire” effect. This was followed up by a nearly total eclipse in the third passage. To top it off, we observed two small eclipses during the first and the fourth passages.
https://www.space.com/stargazing/solar-eclipses/blazing-ring-of-fire-eclipse-seen-from-space-space-photo-of-the-day-for-feb-20-2026?fbclid=IwY2xjawQGGtdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFYdUxaRXV0dmk2WDN1OXQyc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHvqvH4VbfQ3M5qq6Xk1Nwwk9_XQDA6HnTp1Wq3ysR6jWs_t5bXxYAnEfwu7Z_aem_B7rerEkQY0gUzDtSYGAh1A
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https://proba2.sidc.be/Eclipse17February2026