It’s called the “ring of fire,” and you are forgiven if you hum a few bars of the song Johnny Cash made famous with that title. On Oct. 14, however, a very different kind of ring of fire takes place when the annular solar eclipse occurs, and Lane County residents will get a perfect view of this uncommon occurrence when the moon aligns itself with the sun at 9:13 am in Oregon. The eclipse ends in Texas at 12:03 pm CDT, and it will be visible in eight states. The moon will appear smaller than the sun, according to NASA, covering 91 percent of the sun’s disk as viewed from the narrow path the annularity will take, creating the beautiful ring-of-fire look. In Lane County, you can see this majestic alignment of moon and sun from the coast to the mountains or go further south to get a great view at Crater Lake National Park. The National Weather Service is forecasting cloudy skies for the morning of Oct. 14, but the show goes on, and it should be spectacular. Even with cloudy skies, be sure to have your “eclipse glasses” with you during the event. NASA emphasizes that eclipse glasses are thousands of times darker than regular sunglasses and much safer for viewing the sun. You can pick up a pair at Eugene Science Center, Bi-Mart and any number of other places. Remember, too, that this show is FREE!

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