Sea 'sprouts horns' in rare annular solar eclipse

The sea 'grows horns' in rare annular eclipse, off coast of Qatar. Photo / Stefan Meyer, via YouTube

Extremely rare footage has emerged of a dawn, annular eclipse that appear to show the horizon 'sprouting horns'.

Captured overlooking the Persian Gulf from the city of Al Wakrah in Qatar, the footage was captured by photography enthusiast Stefan Meyer.

The eclipse was visible from countries as far apart as Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia. However Meyer realised that his placing on the eastern coast of the gulf of Qatar would give him an ideal view of the eclipse at dawn.

An annular solar eclipse or "ring eclipse" occurs when the sun passes behind the moon at its highest ecliptic plane or new moon phase. This means that the moon's shadow is only small enough to blot out a patch of the sun, forming a ring of light. Named for the Latin "annulus" for ring they do not provide the complete blackout of a total eclipse but can be just as dramatic and provide stunning opportunities for photographs.

This eclipse which occured just before new year was observed by scores of photographers who had been waiting for a chance to capture it.

A partially eclipsed sun rises from the sea at Al Wakrah, Qatar, 26 December 2019.

Posted by Elias Chasiotis on Friday, 27 December 2019

Another photographer who was captured by the idea was Elias Chasiotis who could not miss up the opportunity to see the rare eclipse coinciding with dawn.

Talking to My Modern Met magazine the Greek photographer described the feeling of seeing the sea sprout horns.

"The feeling during the eclipse was out of this world," said Chasiotis, after his picture was selected by Nasa as Astronomy Picture of the Day.

A plane passes in front of the eclipse. Photo / Stefan Meyer

"The crescent sun rose in a deep red colour that reminded me of burning coal. At first, two horns were visible rising from the sea, which soon took the shape of a crescent."
The effect was described as an 'Etruscan Vase' was named by science fiction writer Jules Verne in his novel Dick Sand, sighted by whalers on their way to New Zealand.

The next annualar exlipse passes over Nepal on June 21.

The first and only total solar eclipse of 2020 falls on December 14 and will be most visible from Santiago, Chile.