Annular Solar Eclipse of 4 January 1992

Annular eclipses occur because the Moon isn't in a perfectly circular orbit around Earth, and the Earth isn't in a perfectly circular orbit around the Sun. This means that the angular sizes of both bodies varies slightly. If a solar eclipse happens when the Sun is a bit nearer, or the Moon a bit farther, the Moon might not fully cover the Sun at totality. In that case, we will see a ring (an "annulus") around the Moon, and it won't get dark enough to see the corona. While not as impressive as a total eclipse, it's still very pretty.

This annular eclipse's path was near San Diego, California- just a couple hour drive down the coast from where I was living at the time. So some friends and I headed down. The eclipse occurred just before sunset, and it was a bit cloudy, but a beautiful ring could still be seen setting into the Pacific Ocean.