Spectacular solar eclipse on Sunday, but we won’t see it in Connecticut

Those ideally situated, viewing the eclipse from the center, will see this "ring of fire" on May 20, 2012 when an "annular" eclipse occurs. (Please follow safety rules when viewing an eclipse. Visit the NASA site for details.)

What’s called an “annular” eclipse of the sun will occur on Sunday, May 20 but in Connecticut it will already be evening here.

Your friends living on the western parts of the U.S. will have a chance to catch it (hopefully, observing safety precautions). The eclipse will begin at 5:24 p.m. Pacific time.

According to NASA:

On May 20-21, 2012 an annular eclipse of the Sun will be visible from within a narrow corridor along Earth’s northern Hemisphere – beginning in eastern Asia, crossing the North Pacific Ocean, and ending in the western United States. A partial eclipse will be visible from a much larger region covering East Asia, North Pacific, North America and Greenland.

However, the world of media being what it is today, we will likely be treated to photos on Facebook and on news blogs, as well images on the TV news, and on the NASA web site www.nasa.gov

You can get a “preview” by watching the NASA video at http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov or watch here:

The moon is expected to cover about 94 percent of the sun, leaving a ring of light that experts say can cause eye damage or blindness if viewed directly.

If you remember the last solar eclipse visible in this part of the world, you may recall seeing tiny slivers of moon shapes covering the ground if you were standing under a tree.

A total or “annular” eclipse happens when the Earth, moon and sun are in alignment. The last time this happened was 1994. The next one will be in May 2013 and we should be able to see it at that time. The next total eclipse will be in 2017.

Posted May 19, 2012

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