The 2027 Annular Eclipse in Patagonia: Watching the Ring of Fire from Los Alerces

On Saturday, February 6, 2027, an annular solar eclipse crosses Patagonia, and its path runs straight over our valley. For close to seven minutes in the late morning, the Moon will sit inside the Sun and leave a bright ring around it, the ring of fire. This is what we know about it from here: the times, how long the ring lasts in Cholila and Esquel, how to watch it safely, and how to plan a stay around it.

What happens on February 6, 2027

An annular eclipse happens when the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun while it is near the far point of its orbit. From the ground it looks slightly too small to cover the Sun, so instead of the darkness of a total eclipse you get a black disc with a ring of sunlight around it. The light dims and turns flat and strange, but the sky does not go dark.

This one is unusually long. At its best point the ring lasts 7 minutes and 51 seconds, around twice what an annular eclipse usually gives. The path of the ring crosses southern Chile, then western Chubut, then runs across Argentina and out over the Atlantic toward West Africa. Outside that path, people see only a partial eclipse.

Eclipse times in Cholila and Esquel

These are local times from timeanddate.com for the Cholila valley and for Esquel, about an hour and a half south of us.

Cholila valley: the partial eclipse begins at 10:22, the maximum is at 11:56 and the eclipse ends at 13:36. The ring lasts 6 minutes and 56 seconds.

Esquel: the partial eclipse begins at 10:23, the maximum is at 11:56 and the eclipse ends at 13:36. The ring lasts 7 minutes and 31 seconds.

Bariloche, further north, sits outside the path. It gets a deep partial eclipse but no ring. If you are planning a trip around this, what matters is being inside the band that runs from the Cholila valley down through Los Alerces to Esquel and Trevelin. It is worth checking the times again in January.

Will the sky be clear?

Nobody can promise weather in Patagonia, but February is about as good as it gets here. It is late summer, the driest part of our year, and the climate studies done for this eclipse rate the Argentine side of the Andes as a better bet than the Chilean side, which sits under the weather coming in off the Pacific.

How to watch it safely

There is no point during an annular eclipse when it is safe to look at the Sun with bare eyes, because part of the Sun is always showing. That includes the ring itself.

Use eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer certified to the ISO 12312-2 standard, and check them for scratches or holes before each use. Ordinary sunglasses are not enough. Never look at the Sun through binoculars, a camera or a telescope unless the front of the lens has a proper solar filter on it, even while you are wearing eclipse glasses.

A pinhole is the simplest backup. Stand with your back to the Sun and let light pass through a small hole onto a sheet of paper, and you will see the ring projected on it. The gaps between leaves do the same thing on the ground under a tree. We give certified eclipse glasses to every guest.

Where to watch from

Anywhere inside the path works, so the real question is what you want around you. The lakes and forest of Los Alerces National Park are inside the path, and so is the open country of the Cholila valley. Esquel has been preparing for the eclipse as a major event, so expect the town to be busy.

The trip we are running is built around watching it on horseback, with kayaking and long lunches out in the country around it. If you have not ridden here before, our post on what a ride from the Cholila valley is like covers the horses and the country. The eclipse also falls during Cholila's Fiesta Nacional del Asado, which runs February 5 to 7, 2027.

Getting here and where to stay

Fly into Esquel (EQS) or Bariloche (BRC), both with flights from Buenos Aires. Esquel is the nearest airport inside the path, and from there the drive north to our valley takes about an hour and a half. February is high season here, so plan early if you want to be in the path.

If you fish, the eclipse lands in the middle of dry fly season on our rivers, and it is easy to build a fishing week around it. Our complete guide to Patagonia fly fishing on the Carrileufú covers how a week runs, and our guide to the Argentina fishing license explains the permit.

The eclipse stay itself, with the riding, kayaking and dates, is on our eclipse trip page.