site.btaBulgarian Antarctic Team Observes Partial Solar Eclipse from St. Kliment Ohridski Base on Livingston Island

Bulgarian Antarctic researchers observed a partial annular solar eclipse from the Bulgaria's St. Kliment Ohridski Base on Livingston Island on Tuesday. 

This was the first solar eclipse of the year and was visible only from Antarctica. On Livingston Island it was seen only partially, with about 15% of the Sun obscured. The Bulgarian Antarctic team observed the phenomenon using glacier sunglasses with the highest level of protection.

An annular solar eclipse is also known as a “ring of fire”. Solar eclipses occur when the Sun, the Moon and the Earth align, and the Moon casts a shadow that partially or completely blocks sunlight reaching Earth.

The Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) departed for Antarctica from Varna (on the Black Sea) on November 7, 2025. After a month-long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, the ship arrived at the Argentine naval base in Mar del Plata on December 13.

BTA has had a national press club on board the ship since 2022 and another on Livingston Island since February 2024. The news items of BTA's special correspondents on RSV 421 and Antarctica are freely available in Bulgarian and English The news items of BTA's special correspondents on RSV 421 and Antarctica are freely available in Bulgarian and English on the agency's website. They can be used free of charge by all media, with attribution to BTA. Valchev recalled that thanks to its correspondents, the news agency appears among the top results on Google when searching for the phrase “Antarctica correspondent”.