The animation above was assembled from three images acquired by NASA on Feb. 26, 2017. In that view, both the Earth and the lunar shadow move during the annular solar eclipse.

(NASA)

At a Glance

NASA satellites captured images of the annular solar eclipse.The phenomenon cast lunar shadows onto portions of our planet.

On Feb. 26, a "ring of fire" replaced the sun over cities in South America and parts of Africa as an annular solar eclipse played out in the skies.

The annular eclipse occurs when , according to a release from NASA. This leaves the sun’s edges exposed and silhouettes the moon in a red-orange ring.

Images acquired by the space agency show the movement of both the Earth and the moon’s shadow.

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The eclipse began "at the southern tip of South America, first making landfall in Chile and passing through Argentinabefore traveling ," according to Slooh.

While the moon did block much of the sun, this event is not considered a total solar eclipse.

Atotal eclipse will occur on Aug. 21and will cross the entire continental U.S. for the first time in nearly four decades, NASA also said.

"When the moon blocks out the sun during a total eclipse, those regions of Earth that are in the direct path of totality become dark as night for almost three minutes," NASA Heliophysics Division director Steve Clarke said in the release. "This will be one of the best-observed eclipses to date, and we plan to take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn as much as we can about the sun and its effects on Earth."

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: The Annular Solar Eclipse