This intricate shot of a person framed by an annular eclipse was set up hours in advance by Colleen Pinski and taken with a zoom lens at a very precise moment during an annular eclipse. On June 21, 2020, a solstice solar eclipse will occur: quite the rarity here on Earth. (COLLEEN PINSKI / CATERS NEWS)

A Solstice Solar Eclipse Is About To Happen: Just How Rare Is It?

This year’s June solstice coincides with a new Moon and an annular solar eclipse. Here’s how rare it truly is.

As the Earth orbits the Sun, it rotates on its axis. At two points throughout the year, our 23.5 tilt points maximally either towards or away from the Sun, corresponding to the summer and winter solstices. As this annual dance occurs, however, the Moon continues to orbit the Earth, passing in-and-out of the Earth-Sun plane and displaying its phases, from new to full and back again with each lunar month.

On Saturday, June 20, 2020, the solstice will occur as the Earth’s north pole reaches its maximum tilt towards the Sun. Just 9 hours later, the Moon will pass perfectly between the Earth and the Sun, creating an annular solar eclipse for a myriad of observers across Africa and Asia. It’s an incredibly rare occurrence to have a solstice solar eclipse, but there’s a good reason for it this year. Here’s the scientific story of why.

The path of annularity extends from Africa through Asia for the eclipse of June 21, 2020. It passes through the cities of Rumbek and Waat in South Sudan, Sana’a in Yemen, Sukkur in Pakistan, and Xiamen in China, among others. (© TIME AND DATE AS 1995–2020)

The solstices happen twice a year, and the Moon cycles through its full set of phases every 29.53 days. In…