A beautiful dance of the sun and moon will commence early this morning, when a hybrid solar eclipse sweeps over the Earth's face. Though the celestial event will only be visible for folks in Africa, the Slooh Space Camera team will bring live web feeds to viewers all over the globe, starting at 3:45 a.m. PT/6:45 a.m. ET.

A hybrid solar eclipse is a relatively rare event that is a cross between two types of eclipses: a total and an annular eclipse. Both versions happens when the moon passes in front of the Earth, casting a shadow on our planet. But in a total eclipse, the moon is at the right distance to completely block the sun's light, while in an annular eclipse the moon is slightly closer to us and its shadow is not enough to cover the sun. A small but beautiful ring of sunlight remains around the black spot where the moon hangs in the sky. This hybrid eclipse will start as an annular eclipse and then become a total solar eclipse.

The greatest extent of the eclipse should occur at around 4:47 a.m. PT/7:47 a.m. ET and last 1 minute and 40 seconds, making it the longest hybrid eclipse of the sun's current 18-year Saros cycle. Slooh will have live feeds from telescopes in the Canary Island as well as views from Kenya and Gabon. At the time of greatest eclipse, viewers should be able to see the sun's hot outer atmosphere, called the corona, and possibly prominences leaping from its surface. A map of the eclipse's path can be seen below.