RING OF FIRE’ SOLAR ECLIPSE: The new moon will sweep in front of the sun to create this year’s first solar eclipse today. The moon in its elliptical orbit around Earth will lie too far from us to cover over the sun completely. So a bright annulus — or ring — will surround the new moon silhouette at mid-eclipse. It’s the outer rim of the sun, not quite hidden from view. People have taken to calling these “ring of fire” eclipses.

Essentially, they are partial eclipses, albeit very dramatic ones. As with any partial eclipse, you need eye protection to watch an annular eclipse. Watching with the unaided eye will cause eye damage. From much of North America, people will see the sun in eclipse at sunrise. Northerly and easterly locations in the U.S. have the best view.

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BEST-EVER DARK MATTER MAP: Dark matter is a mysterious invisible substance that makes up most of the matter in our universe.

Now, scientists have produced the most detailed ever dark matter map, showing the distribution of dark matter as seen from about a quarter of the night sky visible from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere.

The scientists are part of the Dark Energy Survey, a collaboration of more than 400 scientists from 25 institutions in 7 countries. They used artificial intelligence, or AI, to analyze images of 226 million galaxies in the southern sky.

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TODAY: Today is National Iced Tea Day. With the varieties available, almost anyone can find a flavor they enjoy (there are always exceptions). So grab a glass (or bottle) of iced tea and settle down to enjoy it today.