At sunrise in some parts of China and Japan and by sunset in the western United States, a partial solar eclipse is set to slink across a narrow swath of the Earth on May 20 and 21.
Depending on where people are in the eclipse's path, some may be able to witness an annular eclipse in which the moon blocks out all but a ring of the Sun's light.
Others will see the Sun as a crescent, partially obscured by the moon, for a period of around four to five minutes.
The event will be the first time in 18 years that such an eclipse is visible from the continental United States, according to Fred Espenak, a longtime solar eclipse expert with NASA.
Depending on where people are in the eclipse's path, some may be able to witness an annular eclipse in which the moon blocks out all but a ring of the Sun's light.
Others will see the Sun as a crescent, partially obscured by the moon, for a period of around four to five minutes.
The event will be the first time in 18 years that such an eclipse is visible from the continental United States, according to Fred Espenak, a longtime solar eclipse expert with NASA.
I'm especially jealous seeing as how solar eclipses very rarely happen here - the last total eclipse we had was in 1979, and we won't see another until 2017...they happen much more frequently in Asia and Africa. I greatly look forward to seeing that eclipse in five years' time, but until then whoever is living on the West coast should share any pictures they take. Until then, any other discussion on the subject would be welcome.
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