When to catch the "ring of fire" eclipse in Seattle

Driving the news: In Washington, the eclipse will start around 8:10am with the Moon blocking about 81% of the Sun, Patrick Koehn, NASA heliophysicist, told KING 5.

• That means we'll see a thin crescent of sun at the edge of the Moon.
• The eclipse will last about two hours in Washington.

The big picture: The annular solar eclipse will darken skies above a narrow swath of the country stretching from the coast of Oregon to the Texas Gulf Coast, according to NASA, but all of the continental U.S. could see the partial solar eclipse.

• It's the last annular solar eclipse that will be visible from the U.S. until 2039.

Be smart: You need eclipse glasses to view the eclipse safely, NASA says.

Background: An annular solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth while it is at its farthest point from Earth, per NASA.

• This differs from a total solar eclipse, when the Moon fully blocks the Sun, even though they both happen when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun.
• That's because on Saturday the Moon will be farther from Earth. It thus appears smaller and doesn't fully block the Sun, leaving a ring of sunlight.

Plus: NASA has an interactive eclipse map that shows when the eclipse will be visible and a countdown to the maximum eclipse time.

• You can also find local eclipse information at Eclipse2024.org.