Watch Live: Annular Solar Eclipse Turns Sun Into Spectacular 'Ring of Fire'

Fire up the Johnny Cash and watch as the moon very nearly covers the entire sun, leaving just a golden sliver of a ring, during a Slooh Space Camera show of today's annular solar eclipse, starting at 2:30 p.m. Pacific/5:30 p.m. Eastern.
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Fire up the Johnny Cash and watch as the moon very nearly covers the entire sun, leaving just a red sliver, during a Slooh Space Camera show of today's annular solar eclipse, starting at 2:30 p.m. Pacific/5:30 p.m. Eastern.

This celestial event occurs when the moon comes between the Earth and the sun, casting a shadow over our planet's surface. Because of the quirks of orbital mechanics, the moon happens to be relatively far from the Earth at the moment, meaning its shadow will only block out 95 percent of the sun's light, leaving a beautiful "Ring of Fire" around the outside. Just after sunrise local time, the eclipse will start over a portion of Western Australia – coincidentally making it visible from almost exactly the same location that a total solar eclipse was just six months ago. It will then head out over the Pacific Ocean, eventually making it as far east as the Hawaiian Islands (the only U.S. state from which the eclipse will be visible).

Slooh will provide a live feed from its telescope in Australia and, simultaneously, show the sun from the other side of the world using the Prescott Solar Observatory in Arizona. It will have its broadcast team on hand along with Astronomy magazine columnist Bob Berman, who will be discussing the event in the video above. You can click over to Slooh to see just the live feed images or watch it from an iPad with a free app. Even with the moon blocking some of its light, at no point should you look at the solar eclipse with your naked eye, which could be damaged.

Video: Slooh