The moon was "new" at 10:44 EST last night, poised directly between Earth and sun. The geometry produced an "annular" eclipse of the sun across 360 miles of Antarctica. Russia's Russkaya research station had the best view, as the sun skidded along the horizon. "Annular" means the moon's disk was too small to fully mask the sun, leaving a brilliant "ring of fire" visible at Russkaya for 2 minutes, 8 seconds. Next total solar eclipse viewable from the continental United States: Aug. 21, 2017.