I thought this was interesting. Apparently, the first solar eclipse of the year--an annular eclipse, will be happening in about a week and can be observed from Antarctica, New Zealand, and parts of Australia.
An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun, Moon, and Earth line up, with the Moon in the middle. Unlike a total solar eclipse, the Moon lies too far from Earth to cover the Sun's entire disk. The Moon's distance from Earth changes from a maximum of 252,166 miles (406,720 kilometers) to a minimum of 220,950 miles (356,371 km) during the course of each month.
The article also points out what makes this event unusual--its direction.
Several things make this eclipse unusual. First, it begins and ends along Earth's sunset line. And second, most eclipse paths travel from west to east. The February 7 annular eclipse path begins by running east to west and slowly turns north before finally moving west to east near its end point.
Full article can be read here: http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=6541
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