On Monday morning, January 26th, a few lucky people in the Indian Ocean will be treated to a rare event  when a full, annular solar eclipse will transform the Sun into a dark disc with a blazing ring-shaped corona around its rim. A partial, antumbral eclipse will be seen within the much larger path of the Moon's penumbral shadow, which includes the southern third of the African continent and Madagascar.
In solar eclipses, the Moon moves between the Sun and Earth, casting its shadow on the terrestrial surface.

During the solar eclipse, live images from various places in Southern Africa will be posted to the IYA2009 website.

The animation to the left, by Dr. Andrew Sinclair, shows the grey penumbral shadow where the eclipse will be seen as a partial one and the smaller red antumbral shadow where the eclipse will be seen as an annular. The UT time is shown in the upper right-hand corner of the diagram, and the central line duration of the annular eclipse can be seen in the lower right-hand corner.

Read the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) press release to learn why an eclipse happens.

Remember: Never look at the Sun with binoculars or a telescope. You may loose your eyesight immediately. And don't look at it with your naked eyes either, as this too may damage your eyes.

[Source: Yahoo News & IYA2009]