Caption: The annular solar eclipse of 2005 Oct03.

This is a typical annular solar eclipse. The night of the Moon is very dark as is space. The solar photosphere is seen as a bright ring (i.e., an annulus).

Note the Moon is NOT exactly centered on the Sun. This is usual. The Moon can only be nearly exactly centered on the Sun only when it transits nearly exactly through the Sun's center (which does NOT happen on every annular solar eclipse) and only at the moment of transit.

Credit/Permission: © User:sancho_panza, 2005 (uploaded to Wikipedia by User:ComputerHotline, 2007) / Creative Commons CC BY-SA 2.0.
Image link: Wikipedia: File:Ecl-ann.jpg.
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