Partial solar eclipse seen over Long Island this morning

Early risers Thursday morning were treated to a partial solar eclipse.

The sun appeared as a crescent during the eclipse, seen around dawn, because the moon was blocking almost three-quarters of it, according to experts.

For New Yorkers, the partial eclipse — while stunning — differed from the "ring of fire," or full annular eclipse, seen farther north, from Canada to northern Russia and Greenland. With a ring of fire eclipse, only the outer perimeter of the sun is visible because the moon is revolving between it and the Earth.

In the United States, NASA said that the partial eclipse would appear in the skies above the Southeast, the Northeast, the Midwest and northern Alaska — but that sungazers would likely only get a clear view at sunrise.

The last "ring of fire" eclipse that traversed at least part of the continental United States was on May 20, 2012, said Rick Fienberg, an astronomer with the Washington, D.C.-based American Astronomical Society, a nonprofit professional group.

The most recent one, he said by telephone, "came across the Pacific, (reaching) Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico and a teeny part of Colorado."

And another ring-shaped, or annular, eclipse is due in just a couple of years.

"The next one touches the United States on Oct. 14, 2023, and amazingly that will be followed only six months later by the next total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024," he said.