WASHINGTON — The moon passed between Earth and the sun Sunday, treating people from Chile to the Democratic Republic of Congo to an annular, or ring-shaped, solar eclipse.

The path extended from the Pacific through Chile, Argentina, Angola, Zambia, and Congo, according to Fred Espenak, a retired NASA eclipse researcher. The ‘‘ring of fire’’ cosmic event was also streamed live on the Internet.

The greatest duration of the eclipse occurred west of Chile in the South Pacific Ocean, starting at 8:16 a.m. EST and lasting about 1 minute and 22 seconds. The eclipse ribbon was 59 miles wide.

In the ‘‘greatest eclipse’’ phase, the axis of the moon shadow passed closest to Earth’s center — east of Buenos Aires in the Atlantic Ocean.

A total solar eclipse covers the entirety of the sun’s disk, but Sunday’s event was an annular eclipse, derived from Latin word for ring-shaped.

Since the eclipse occurred about five days before the moon’s perigee (March 3, when it is at its closest to the Earth), the moon covered most but not all of the sun, leaving a sliver of the sun uncovered.

That produced the ‘‘ring of fire’’ effect.

This eclipse belonged to a family called Saros 140, a series that started April 16, 1512. An eclipse from this series was last seen Feb. 16, 1999. The last total eclipse from Saros 140 was Nov. 9, 1836.

The next eclipse in this series will be March 9, 2035, another annular eclipse.

Less than six months from now, on Aug. 21, a total solar eclipse from another series will be visible from the Pacific Northwest through the heart of the Midwest to a big chunk of South Carolina.

At the “greatest eclipse’’ phase, viewers may enjoy 2 minutes, 40 seconds of totality.

NASA has devoted a full website to the August eclipse, and it provides detailed maps and general information. The US Naval Observatory’s website also gives details on that eclipse.