Eclipsing the Sun

(Taken on 05-20-2012 at 7:32 pm MST.  Direct picture of the sun.

The Solar flair is the eclipse)

I grew up loving space.  It might have something to do with Star Trek and watching the Next Generation every Sunday with my family.  My Dad was always aware of space events we could watch.  Some days it was as simple as stepping outside to watch the international space station pass overhead.  There were many times, in the wee early hours or late at night, when I would climb into a van with my brothers, Mom, and Dad to drive into the California Sierra Neveda foot hills and watch a meteor shower. 

The Solar Eclipse that happened last Sunday, May 20th, was all over the news last week, but we weren't planning on taking a trip to see the full eclipse until my Dad noticed, while analyzing a map, that Highway 56, west of Cedar City UT, for about 15 miles, ran dead center down the eclipses path.  Being in the middle of the path meant being able to see the annular solar eclipse in full glory.

When there is a total eclipse the Moon, which is very close to the Earth, completely covers the Sun.  Apparently it gets dark enough in mid day that you're able to see stars come out.  With an annular eclipse the Moon is further away from the Earth, so that it doesn't completely cover the Sun, leaving a "ring of fire" around the edges of the Moon. 

It was thrilling going down Highway 56 and seeing clusters of cars gathering in random spots off the road to watch the eclipse.  I got a bit telescope envy as we drove by camps of enthusiastic science geeks.  We thought a lot of people were going to visit the National Parks, but it was fun seeing how many other people had our same idea. 

There are many ways to observe an eclipse.  Wielding glass #14 can be used, unfortunately our wielding glass was #10, but we were still able to see the sun with a bright green hue.  In the picture above my Dad and brother made this pin-hole camera, allowing us to watch the eclipse shine on paper (and seeing some giant sun spots at the same time).

This is my brother, Steven, showing how far the Moon had past over the Sun.  This picture was taken at 7:07 pm.

The eclipses lasted about 4 minutes, starting at 7:32 and ending at 7:36 pm.  This was taken at 7:34.  We met someone who came prepared.  He bought extra paper sun glasses, and I was lucky enough to get one.  Here I took a picture with the camera looking through the glasses.  The blue on the bottom is actually from the paper. 

The picture above is what the sun looked like at 7:35 pm.  Below is the sun, looking through binoculars and the sun glasses,  at 7:46 pm. 

I'm so glad I went!  It didn't get as dark as I thought it would; the light around us took on a darken blue tint.  On  Aug. 21, 2017 there is going to be a total eclipse.  Many states, including Idaho and Wyoming, are going to be in the center of that path.  I'm going!  There's also going to be a total eclipse over northern Utah August 12, 2045.  There's another annular eclipse scheduled for Oct. 14, 2023.

Have a great rest of the day,

Sarah