Solar Eclipse 2012: 'Ring Of Fire' Set To Appear May 20

On Jan. 4, 2011, the moon passed in front of the sun in a partial solar eclipse - as seen from parts of Earth. Here, the joint Japanese-American Hinode satellite captured the same breathtaking event from space.

By: Mike Wall
Published: 05/14/2012 10:19 AM EDT on SPACE.com

Skywatchers in East Asia and the western United States should circle Sunday (May 20) on their calendars. That's when a solar eclipse will block out most of the sun, leaving a spectacular "ring of fire" shining in the sky for observers located along the eclipse's path.

The event is what's known as an annular solar eclipse — from the Latin "annulus," meaning "little ring" — and its full glory should be visible from much of Asia, the Pacific region and some of western North America, weather permitting. At its peak, the eclipse will block about 94 percent of the sun's light.

Other parts of the United States and Canada will still see a partial solar eclipse, without being treated to the ring of fire effect, though the East Coast will miss the event since the sun will have set before it begins. The eclipse will occur in the late afternoon or early evening of May 20 throughout North America, and May 21 for observers in Asia. Check out this eclipse skywatching guide to learn more about viewing locations and times.

This NASA graphic of the United States depicts the path of the annular solar eclipse of May 20, 2012, when the moon will cover about 94 percent of the sun's surface as seen from Earth.

Solar eclipses occur when the moon comes between Earth and the sun, casting a shadow on our planet. When the moon lines up perfectly with the sun and blots out all of its light, the result is a total eclipse. Partial eclipses cover only part of the sun's face. [Annular Solar Eclipse of May 20, 2012 (Photo Guide)]

Annular eclipses are similar to total eclipses in that the moon lines up with the sun dead-on. But in this case, the moon is close to apogee — the farthest point from Earth in its elliptical orbit around our planet — so it's a smidge too small in the sky to cover the solar disk completely. As a result, a ring of bright sunlight will still blaze around the moon's circumference.

Like other types of solar eclipses, annular eclipses are spectacular but potentially dangerous skywatching events. Care must be taken to observe them properly, or serious and permanent eye damage — including blindness — could result.

Warning: Never look directly at the sun, either with the naked eye or through telescopes or binoculars without the proper filters.

To safely observe the May 20 annular eclipse, you can buy special solar filters to fit over your equipment, or No. 14 welder's glass to wear over your eyes. Do NOT use standard sunglasses or any kind of homemade sun-shading contraption.

The safest and simplest technique is perhaps to watch the eclipse indirectly with the solar projection method. Use your telescope, or one side of your binoculars, to project a magnified image of the sun’s disk onto a shaded white piece of cardboard.

The image on the cardboard will be safe to view and photograph. Be sure to cover the telescope's finder scope or the unused half of the binoculars, however, and don't let anybody look through them.

And if you snap any good eclipse photos that you'd like to be considered for use in a story or gallery, send them to SPACE.com managing editor Tariq Malik at [e-mail].

You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

• Solar Eclipses: An Observer's Guide (Infographic)
• May 2012 Solar Eclipse - Where, When and How To View it | Video
• Photos: Amazing Views of November 2011 Solar Eclipse

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Comments

[Saumya Shrivastava]

04:02 AM on 05/16/2012

http://bit.ly/JoR0NP
Here are the ways you can get hold of the Eclipse. Check out the RING OF FIRE PREVIEW HERE..

[bigcypress]

10:05 PM on 05/15/2012

I live in southwest Colorado and I am going to drive south into New Mexico on Sunday to check it out. (The next annular eclipse will be in the same area in 2023.)

In the immortal words of Bart Scott: Can't Wait!

All that you touch and all that you see
all that you taste, all you feel
and all that you love and all that you hate
all you distrust, all you save
and all that you give and all that you deal
and all that you buy, beg, borrow or steal
and all you create and all you destroy
and all that you do and all that you say
and all that you eat and everyone you meet
and all that you slight and everyone you fight
and all that is now and all that is gone
and all that's to come and everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon

[qaan]

04:32 PM on 05/20/2012

Smoke some more pot and listen to some more Pink Flod and you will see the eclipse in that bowl of ice cream you snarf down when you are really, really wasted.

[Tobias Lake]

01:58 PM on 05/15/2012

Mwhaha the only time I have been glad to live in CA.

[Seablue2u]

11:02 AM on 05/15/2012

:( NC will be dark before it begins. Thank goodness for the internet...we'll ALMOST feel like we saw it!

[StephenJK]

08:02 AM on 05/15/2012

Hmmmm....NATO summit on the same day here in Chi-town. City will be temporarily shutdown, too. Should be a sight to behold.

[Monye Crockett]

03:02 AM on 05/15/2012

do u think there is any thing religious abt this

[SidTheScienceKid]

07:57 PM on 05/15/2012

No. Religion is on a different section of hufpo.

[Monye Crockett]

01:26 AM on 05/16/2012

thx..

[qaan]

04:34 PM on 05/20/2012

Ha hahahahaa!!! Awesome! F&F!!!!

[erebus99]

11:44 PM on 05/14/2012

It figures. The last total solar eclipse in my corner of the world came by in 1979 and it was solid overcast. This one is 500 miles too far for life to allow right now. Sigh...

I gotta get out more.

[GOODDOC1]

02:18 AM on 05/15/2012

I got to see the one in 1979, but it will miss me this time. And we got the clouds for the "supermoon"!

[Suntio]

10:31 PM on 05/14/2012

"Most high def" or "highest def"?

[qaan]

04:35 PM on 05/20/2012

Probably the first one if you've got some killer weed.

[Ian Stuart]

10:15 PM on 05/14/2012

If Romney does take the credit 4 this event and the White House is blissfully unawhere of it and no one told Oboma about it, it may just scare the heck out of him enough to make him step down before his inevitable replacement hapens, but alas, thats not going to hapen...LOL as for the Mayan Calendar, it may also be that the end of it predics the return of the fatherd serpant God and don't ask me to spell it ! ! .......LOL

[GOODDOC1]

02:19 AM on 05/15/2012

Why don't you try sticking to the topic before you worry about your spelling!

[blurredmolly]

07:18 PM on 05/14/2012

Romney will take credit.

[sirfascist]

06:15 PM on 05/14/2012

All the doomsday enthusiasts will be disappointed. Has it ever occured to anyone that the Mayan calander was simply predicting this?

[word2thenooch]

09:49 AM on 05/15/2012

i beleive they just found a new one going a couple thousand years past that too.

[No7]

05:34 PM on 05/14/2012

..Rosie O'Donnell on a hang glider has the same effect....

[screb29856]

10:17 PM on 05/14/2012

are you saying more annular eclipse or partial eclipse? lol

[No7]

10:27 PM on 05/14/2012

....I'm saying total regional blackouts.....LOL!!

[Gloria Fischer]

04:44 PM on 05/14/2012

Didn't get to see Super Moon due to cloud cover, why would I think we'd get to see the solar eclipse? Got to leave the Jersey Shore!

[Jarrod Putnam]

06:08 PM on 05/14/2012

That shouldn't be the only reason to leave ;)

[Gloria Fischer]

10:20 PM on 05/14/2012

Point taken!

[word2thenooch]

09:52 AM on 05/15/2012

yeah well the other reason to leave would be... its Jersey Shore. nuf said

[StephenJK]

08:00 AM on 05/15/2012

Eff that baby! I'm fist pumpin til I die!

[Gloria Fischer]

10:24 AM on 05/15/2012

Ahhhh! Words of Jerzy wisdum

[Gloria Fischer]

11:46 AM on 05/16/2012

HOW PROUD YOU MUST BE

[mbrahms26]

04:19 PM on 05/14/2012

Will the public be charged to witness this event? I hope not!

[Mandy Ann Osipchuk]

03:12 PM on 05/14/2012

Ok! I live in Florida and sure hope the people lucky that get to see this take some great pictures for the rest of us!!!! I am always in the wrong place and the wrong time....:-{

[Seeker1014]

11:38 PM on 05/14/2012

Mandy, I live in La. I hope to see it. I love this stuff. I did get to see the super moon last weekend and it was very nice but I've seen better. I was really disappointed in the last meteor shower event in April thou. I had a clear shot and only saw 5 in 3 hours. To make matters worse I had bronchitis at the time and layed out on a blanket. By the time I decided the event was over for me around 3:00am me and the blanket was soaking wet. Been running a low grade fever ever since. LOL. What ya just want do for the lack of of anything else to do. I miss drive-ins.

[Mandy Ann Osipchuk]

04:02 PM on 05/19/2012

Still you got to see it! The fever could have made it more memorable! LOL! But You should get quite a show from 2012 solar eclipse... Yes the drive in! I hope you are feeling better now! Take some pictures safely of that eclipse if you get a chance!