The annular solar eclipse that will be visible to Americans will be visible on the morning of this Saturday, October 14.

A RAD MOON rising. Early on October 14, our lunar satellite will float briefly before the sun, obscuring the dawn and plunging millions of people into a strange morning gloom. But this annular eclipse will not be total: since the moon travels in the most distant part of its orbit, it will not block the entire sun. Instead, it will create a bright orange outer ring.

With all the earthly concerns, we forget about cosmic mechanics, especially the speed at which the moon and our planet move. People who look with their eyes (and protective glasses) towards the sky will see the rare spectacle of the “ring of fire” for a fleeting four or five minutes. That moment, called “maximum annularity,” comes from the mathematical term “annular,” which means “to form a ring.” Partial coverage will last up to three hours.

The earth is moving and “We are all moving, the Moon is moving and even the Sun is moving. It is exciting to have a real view of the movements,” says Bruce Betts, chief scientist at the Planetary Society, a nonprofit organization that promotes space exploration. As the moon moves into the sun’s path on Saturday, more than 95 percent of the sun will be covered, he says. The 4 or 5 percent that will remain visible is part of the chromosphere, or its lower atmosphere. In contrast, during total eclipses, which occur less frequently, the moon blocks the entire sun, making only the sun’s faint corona briefly visible.

Northern Nevada and southern Oregon will be the first to see the annularity path, and the partial eclipse phase will begin at 8:06 a.m. Pacific Time. The ring of fire will be most visible in those areas around 9:20 am. Southern Utah and central New Mexico follow, with maximum annularity occurring at approximately 10:30 a.m. m., mountain time. The ring should be visible in South Texas at 11:50 a.m. Central Time.

Subsequently, residents of southeastern Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua and then Colombia and northern Brazil will be in view of the event.

People who are near the road, but not exactly under it, may still witness a partial ring of fire. Observers in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Denver and Houston will see an 80 percent eclipse, meaning the sun will be mostly covered. Of course, all views depend on the pesky clouds staying away.