Total solar eclipse and the diamond ring effect. The last rays of the Sun create a diamond ring as the solar corona appears during the total solar eclipse of 2008 over Chuya River in the Altai Mountain, Siberia. At totality the moon fits over the sun and only the sun's corona (atmosphere) is visible. The moment of totality lasts for only a few minutes and can only be seen from a small area of the Earth's surface.