The first solar eclipse of the year 2021 will take place on Thursday (today) which will last for a total duration of 3 minutes and 51 seconds.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in solar eclipses the Moon isn't close enough to Earth to entirely block the view of the Sun from the planet, leaving a ring of sunlight around the moon.

An annular eclipse is a partial eclipse, and only a part of the sun will appear to have a shadow over it.

The eclipse is going to appear as a ‘ring of fire’ in the sky.

Pakistan will miss out on the eclipse entirely. However, the locations where the partial eclipse will be visible are eastern United States, northern Alaska, along with much of Canada and parts of the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and northern Africa.

As per NASA, in many of these areas, the eclipse will occur before, during, and shortly after sunrise.

Meanwhile, to watch this rare phenomenon, people are advised to use protective solar eclipse-viewing glasses.

During the eclipse, the Moon will move between the Sun and the Earth, and with the three celestial bodies exactly in line with each other the Sun's light will be blocked from reaching the Earth.

This celestial event comes just days after the year’s first super blood moon and total lunar eclipse, which took place on May 26.

As per NASA, hundreds of years ago when people observed the Moon during an eclipse, they saw Earth’s shadow on the Moon and discovered that the Earth is round.

Scientists also use solar eclipses as an opportunity to study the Sun’s corona, which is basically the Sun’s top layer.

During an annular solar eclipse, NASA uses ground and space instruments to view the corona when the Moon blocks the Sun’s glare.