2012 Annular
Annular Solar Eclipse
Chinle, Arizona - May 20, 2012
Three sunspots were visible through solar filters before the onset of this eclipse. In Chinle, Arizona, the partial phase started at 5:32PM as the silhouette of the moon advanced across the face of the Sun. Annularity began the moment the moon was encircled by the sun’s disk at 6:37PM. This “ring of fire” lasted 4 minutes 30 seconds for observers in Chinle on the centerline. A Partial eclipse was seen in Flagstaff, Arizona with 87% of the sun covered and in Phoenix, Arizona with 83% obscured.This annular eclipse began hours earlier and thousands of miles away at sunrise along the southeastern coast of China on May 21 crossing over Guangzhou and Hong Kong. The antumbra shadow continued onward to the cities of Taipei, Taiwan, Osaka and Tokyo, Japan then east over the Pacific Ocean and across the International Dateline. Annularity was observed in southwestern Oregon, northern California, central Nevada, southern Utah, northern Arizona, southwestern Colorado, central New Mexico and western Texas crossing many National Parks.
Canon 10D with 1.4X Teleconverter & Solar Filter
Watching the eclipse as the sky changes hue
Annular eclipse projected on car!
Refraction and inverted image of partially eclipsed sun above mesa (Dangerous to look at directly without filter)
The annular eclipse as seen from Narita airport in Tokyo, Japan, May 21, 2012. Photo by Paul Maley