A 'ring of fire' solar eclipse will take place on Sunday — here's how to see it

• A rare "ring of fire" solar eclipse will take place on Sunday.
• This type of annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon is at the farthest point in its orbit and moves between Earth and the sun.
• Because the moon is not big enough to totally block the sun, the sun's outer rim remains visible.
• People in parts of China, Central African Republic, Congo, Ethiopia, India, and Pakistan will be able to see the eclipse.

Some parts of the world will see the sun turn into a "ring of fire" on Sunday.

The event, known as an annular solar eclipse, occurs when the moon is at the farthest point from Earth in its orbit and passes between our planet and the sun. The moon partially covers the sun, but its small size in the sky means the sun's outer rim remains visible, making it look like a bright ring.

People in parts of China, Central African Republic, Congo, Ethiopia, India, and Pakistan will be able to watch the full annular solar eclipse. The event will begin for those in Central Africa — the first location to see the eclipse — on Sunday, June 21 at 4:47 a.m. local time. It will end for the last areas to see it — parts of China — at 8:32 a.m. local time. (That's at 12:47 a.m. and 4:32 a.m. ET if you watch remotely from the US.)

A partial annular eclipse will also be visible in southern and eastern Europe and northern Australia.

If you are able to catch the solar eclipse in person, make sure to wear proper eye protection, since staring directly at the sun causes eye damage.

If, however, the eclipse won't be visible in the sky where you live, you can catch it online. TimeandDate is presenting a livestream on Youtube that can watch below.

The moon will cover about 99.4% of the sun

The name annular eclipse comes from the Latin word "annulus," which means ring.

A "ring of fire" eclipse happens once a year. Solar eclipses generally take place about two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse. One lunar eclipse occurred on June 5, and another will happen on July 5.

During this annular eclipse, it will take the moon several minutes to pass in front of the sun, but the full eclipse will only last for about one second.

At the maximum point of the eclipse, the moon will cover about 99.4% of the sun, according to NASA.

This week, the agency released a video of an annular eclipse as seen from western Australia in May 2013 to show what viewers can expect.

Next year's annular solar eclipse will come on June 10, 2021 and be visible in Canada, Northern Europe, Russia, and the Antartic.