Friday's Entry

May 20th Annular Eclipse

It's time to warm up for the annular eclipse coming on May 20th. Annular comes from the word annulus, a  Latin word meaning ring. In eclipses, it refers to the ring of fire visible around the sun. This means we are not expecting a total eclipse on the path of its shadow across the earth. The moon, which creates solar eclipses when it gets between the sun and us, is farther out in its orbit. So, it will not cover the sun completely. It will cover almost all of the sun, leaving a thin ring of fire around the sun's edge. You can watch the moon take a bit of the sun as usual, but when it moves to center position, it will not completely block out the light. Hence, it leaves that ring, or annulus.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_May_20,_2012

Since this eclipse falls across Redding, California, head north to see it. Some astronomers, when thwarted by clouds and bad weather will drive along the path of annularity until they find a break in the clouds. Many astronomers set up cameras to take photos of the event. All of them wear eye protection and have special solar filters for their binoculars and telescopes. Without it, you'l likely fry your eyes.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/safety.html

No! polarized sun glasses are not enough to protect you. Neither is welder's glass. You must absolutely purchase the correct solar protection that blocks both UV and Infrared rays. Otherwise, like Galileo, you will go blind. Naturally, you can go online for such equipment. It's relatively inexpensive when you consider that you'll save your eyes

http://www.rainbowsymphony.com/soleclipse.html

An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon is not quite big enough to block all the Sun. NOAA/SEC [larger image]

A special case of a solar eclipse is known as an annular eclipse. This occurs when the Moon is farther from the Earth than normal, and hence its apparent size is not quite sufficient to cover the Sun completely. Therefore, even though the Sun- Moon alignment is perfect, the Moon will appear slightly smaller in diameter than the Sun and a thin ring of sunlight will remain visible around the dark silhouette of the Moon. The name annular eclipse comes from the Latin annulus, meaning ring. The next total solar eclipse visible from the United States will occur on August 21, 2017. In the mean time, there will be a few partial solar eclipses to entertain us! Just check the Table of Solar Eclipsesfor information on upcoming eclipses.

The greatest care must be taken when watchinga solar eclipse - but nobody should ever pass up the chance of seeing the splendor of such a celestial event. Never look at the Sun unless you wear special solar eclipse eyeglasses, and even more importantly, make sure you have the proper filters if you plan to observe the Sun through a telescope.

http://www.nightskyinfo.com/solar_eclipses/

+ Sky Highlights+ The Sky This Month

• Astronomy Basics
•