 |
Indian women hold up photographic film as a filter to look at the solar eclipse from the historical Durgiana Temple in Amritsar on January 4, 2011. The first solar eclipse of 2011 covered the sun by 30 percent and could be ...
Home LocalU.S./WorldBusinessSportsA&ELifeComicsPhotosBlogsForumsTraffic ShoppingReal Estate Index Note to readers: We are now using Facebook comments on our blogs. Learn more ...
(Click image for larger view.) A solar eclipse visible from China's Henan province.Get out your calendar and make a big exclamation point on May 20. That?s when an annular solar eclipse will turn the sun into a glowing ring of fire.
This is the first solar eclipse visible from the United States in about 18 years, according to NASA. We?ve had our share of lunar eclipses in recent years, but solar eclipses happen when the moon passes in front of the sun, obscuring it from view.
The ?ring of fire? effect will be visible as far north as Medford, Oregon and as far south as Lubbock, Texas. Throughout the zone ?called the ?path of annularity? ? sky watchers will see the sun transformed into a a bright doughnut-like object.
The rest of the country west of the Mississippi (including Seattle) will witness a partial eclipse. That?s when the sun appears to be crescent-shaped as the moon passes by off-center.
NASA wants to remind you that this is not a total eclipse ? when the moon entirely obscures the sun from view. The next total eclipse visible from the US happens in 2017. (Again, mark your calendar.)
Show CaptionIslamabad, PAKISTAN: A bird sits on a tree during a solar eclipse in Islamabad, 29 March 2006. The umbra was tracking eastward at dizzying speed across Africa and parts of the Middle East before expiring in Asia where it was to end at 1148 GMT, covering a distance of 14,500 kilometres (9,000 miles). AFP PHOTO/Aamir QURESHI (Photo credit should read AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images) (AFP/Getty Images)
Show CaptionYoung people look at the rare sight of the setting sun appearing as crescent as the Moon moves in alignment between the Sun and the Earth during a partial solar eclipse, as seen from Manila Bay on January 26, 2009. The partial eclipse was visible from the southern third of Africa, Madagascar, Australia, Southeast India, Southeast Asia and Indonesia. (GIL NARTEA / AFP/Getty Images)
Show CaptionIndian women hold up photographic film as a filter to look at the solar eclipse from the historical Durgiana Temple in Amritsar on January 4, 2011. The first solar eclipse of 2011 covered the sun by 30 percent and could be seen in many parts of the world. (NARINDER NANU / AFP/Getty Images)
Show CaptionA picture taken on January 04, 2011 in Locon, northern France, shows the world's first partial solar eclipse of 2011. A solar eclipse happens when the Moon swings between the Earth and the Sun. (PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP/Getty Images)
Show CaptionThe sun is seen partially covered by the moon on Easter Island, 3700 km off the Chilean coast in the Pacific Ocean, on July 11, 2010. A total solar eclipse began its 11,000 kilometer (6,800 mile) arc over the Pacific Sunday, plunging remote islands into darkness in a heavenly display set to climax on Easter Island. (MARTIN BERNETTI / AFP/Getty Images)
Show CaptionGIVATAYIM, ISRAEL - JANUARY 04: (ISRAEL OUT) A woman uses eye protection to look at a partial solar eclipse in the sky on January 4, 2011 in the town of Givatayim, Israel. Over parts of Europe it could be seen as much as two-thirds of the sun slipped from view behind the moon. An event like this hasn't occurred in the area since August 1999, and the next eclipse won't be until March 2015. (Uriel Sinai / Getty Images)
Show CaptionThe world's first partial solar eclipse of 2011 is seen on January 4, 2011 in Liptovsky Mikulas, central Slovakia. Europe was given a front-row seat to the first solar eclipse of 2011 only to find that in many places a thick curtain of cloud marred the spectacle. (JOE KLAMAR / AFP/Getty Images)
Show CaptionA picture taken on January 4, 2011 from the hills above the southern Lebanese coastal city of Sidon shows the world's first partial solar eclipse of 2011 behind the landmark statue of the Virgin Mary in the Christian village of Maghdusheh. The partial eclipse occurred when a fraction of the Moon obscured the Sun, making it seem -- in clear skies -- as if a "bite" had been taken out of the solar face. (MAHMOUD ZAYAT / AFP/Getty Images)
Show CaptionA picture taken on January 04, 2011 in Rennes, western France, shows the world's first partial solar eclipse of 2011. A solar eclipse happens when the Moon swings between the Earth and the Sun. (DAMIEN MEYER / AFP/Getty Images)
Show CaptionMADRIDEJO, Spain: A view of the annular eclipse of the sun in Vigo, 03 October 2005. In an annular eclipse, the Moon moves between the Sun and Earth but, because of a tiny difference in distance due to celestial mechanics, does not completely cover the solar face as in a total eclipse. (AFP/Getty Images)
Show CaptionANTALYA, TURKEY: A view of the full solar eclipse seen 29 March 2006 in Antalya, Southern coast of Turkey. Total solar eclipses occur when the Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun, completely obscuring the solar disk for a few minutes. The eclipse follows a West-to-East track that lasts several hours until the alignment ends. (AFP/Getty Images)
Show CaptionMontpellier, FRANCE: A French boy watches a solar eclipse, 29 March 2006 in the southern French town of Montpellier. The moon blotted out the sun, turning day into night, in a total solar eclipse that carved a path from the tip of Brazil over northern Africa to the steppes of Mongolia. (AFP/Getty Images)
Show CaptionAMMAN, JORDAN- MARCH 29: Jordanian women look through filters to see the partial solar eclipse that was visible from Jordan on March 29, 2006 in Amman, Jordan. A partial eclipse was visible across most of Africa, all of Europe, and much of western and southern Asia. (Getty Images)
Show CaptionThis picture shows the sun partially covered by the moon during an eclipse as seen from Jakarta on January 26, 2009. A few lucky people in the Indian Ocean were to be treated to a rare event when an annular solar eclipse would transform the Sun into a dark disc with a blazing ring-shaped corona around its rim. (BAY ISMOYO / AFP/Getty Images)
Show CaptionThe moon obstructs the view of the sun from earth in Colombo on January 15, 2010. The longest lasting solar eclipse of the last millenium was first visible in Sri Lanka's north and northeastern areas. AFP PHOTO/ Lakruwan WANNIARACHCHI (Photo credit should read LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images) (LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI / AFP/Getty Images)
Show CaptionJane (L), a Massai herdsman's wife reactrs to looking at the sun and watch as the moon creeps in the path of the sun as viewed from Oltepesi in south central Kenya on January 15, 2010. The special welding goggles Jane is using were borrowed from a photographer as he recorded the eclipse photographically. A solar eclipse that reduced the sun to a blazing ring surrounding a sombre disk plunged parts of Africa and Asia into an eerie semi-darkness on Friday. The spectacle, visible in a roughly 300-kilometre (185-mile) band running 12,900 kms (8,062 miles) across the globe, set a record for the longest annular eclipse at one point that will remain unbeaten for more than a thousand years. An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun but does not completely obscure it, thus leaving a ring -- an annulus -- of sunlight flaring around the lunar disk. AFP PHOTO/Roberto SCHMIDT (Photo credit should read ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images) (ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP/Getty Images)
Show CaptionA solar eclipse appears over Zhengzhou, central China's Henan province on January 15, 2010. A solar eclipse that reduced the sun to a blazing ring surrounding a sombre disk plunged millions of people in Africa and Asia into an eerie semi-darkness, as the spectacle, visible in a roughly 300-kilometre (185-mile) band running 12,900 kilometres (8,062 miles) across the globe, set a record for the longest annular eclipse that will remain unbeaten for more than a thousand years. (STR / AFP/Getty Images)
Show CaptionA Chinese couple watches the solar eclipse over Zhengzhou, central China's Henan province on January 15, 2010. A solar eclipse that reduced the sun to a blazing ring surrounding a sombre disk plunged millions of people in Africa and Asia into an eerie semi-darkness, as the spectacle, visible in a roughly 300-kilometre (185-mile) band running 12,900 kilometres (8,062 miles) across the globe, set a record for the longest annular eclipse that will remain unbeaten for more than a thousand years. (STR / AFP/Getty Images)
Visit seattlepi.com?s home page for more Seattle news. Contact Amy Rolph at amyrolph@seattlepi.com or on Twitter as @amyrolph and @bigblog.