Space Awareness


Solar Eclipse Creates Excitement Among Skywatchers

Written by: developer

A magnificent annular solar eclipse occured May 20, 2012, offering quite a show for skywatchers. Although not visible everywhere, this rare celestial event could be seen from East Asia, Japan and across the western United States. Other areas of the U.S. saw only a partial eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, temporarily blocking the Sun from view. During an annular solar eclipse, the Moon appears slightly smaller than the Sun, leaving a thin ring of sunligt visible known as a “ring of fire.”

Pictured: Caty Stevens captured a unique shot of the partial solar eclipse, as seen from Fort Collins, Colo.

Many of our Facebook fans posted their amazing eclipse photos on our Facebook page so we created a photo album to share. 

Space Foundation friend Paul Hildebrandt of Eventide Visuals also shared his spectacular eclipse video with us on Facebook, taken from Chico, Calif.

Astronomer Stuart Robbins created a unique time lapse perspective of the solar eclipse with his photographs taken in Albuquerque, N.M.

Lots of other great photos of the eclipse can be found at:

And even some video of the eclipse as seen by satellites in outer space from:

This article is part of Space Watch: June 2012 (Volume: 11, Issue: 6).


Posted in Space Awareness