‘RING OF FIRE’ May 20, 2012 Solar Eclipse Starting 5:30 pm PDT (7:30 pm CDT)

http://www.livescience.com/20328-solar-eclipse-20-2012.html ^ | May 17, 4:17

[Yosemitest]

Updated May 17, 4:17 pm ET

The next solar eclipse will grace the afternoon and early evening skies over much of the United States this Sunday (May 20), offering up a spectacular site for those lucky enough to see it.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon gets directly between Earth and the sun. Sunday’s event will be an partial solar eclipse across most of the United States and Canada, and a more compelling annular solar eclipse for a narrow swath of residents in the West and Southwest. The sun sets before any of it will be visible from the East Coast, however.

During the annular eclipse, the moon will be analogous to a black dime in front of a shiny penny, with a thin “ring of fire” — sunlight that streams around the moon.... (continued)

[Yosemitest]

Get out and be a part of it.

[ml/nj]

That's not what it is going to look like. This is not at total eclipse of the sun anywhere on earth. Anyone who stares directly at the sun without a solar filter even at the time of maximum eclipse risks permanently damaging his vision.

ML/NJ

[Yosemitest]

Look at it through a welding shield smoked glass.

[svcw]

Just make a little viewing box, fun project and you can see the whole event.

[Paladin2]

Project it onto a piece of paper using binoculars held over your shoulder.

[umgud]

I’ll use my welding helmut, but I’ll also try some digital pics. Local news story has every outlet in town sold out of welding goggles.

[Selene]

Here is the live video from N California

http://www.kcra.com/video/31089865/detail.html

[Paladin2]

http://spaceweather.com/sunspots/doityourself.html

[Jack Hydrazine]

You can watch it live here with running commentary.
http://events.slooh.com/

[Yosemitest]

Watch Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse on May 20, 2012 - Visible in US on YouTube.com

and more info available at May 20 2012 Annular Eclipse LIVE from Area 51 on Scottys Sky.

[Dogbert41]

In the movie, “Big Trouble in Little China”, Jack Burton looked.

[Jack Hydrazine]

Looked at what?

[Dogbert41]

Into the light. They had to splash water from the gutter into his eyes till he could see again. I guess you had to see the movie...

[ml/nj]

I don't need to watch anything. I've seen these eclipses myself. Usually there are all sorts of warnings about looking at the sun directly even during a total eclipse. During totality there is really no problem as only about the same amount of light presents as it does with a full moon. But almost no one actually gets to see a total eclipse, and looking directly at the sun even when it is 99.9% covered is hazardous. During an annular (Annular means ring, referring to the outer ring of the sun which is not obscured; not to be confused with annual.) a lot more than 0.1 % of the sun is always visible; and so it is always hazardous to view such things without a filter.

My guess is that the thing is over by now and whoever is going to suffer eye damage will have suffered it. But FR shouldn't be a place where one might get the impression that such thing a safe to stare at.

ML/NJ

[Inyo-Mono]

My guess is that the thing is over by now and whoever is going to suffer eye damage will have suffered it.

Actually, it has just started here in northern California. The moon is now about a third of the way into covering the Sun.

[Salvation]

Wear eye protection if you watch this.

[sockmonkey]

I remember watching my first annular eclipse at about age 9. I remember worrying...what if it just stops, and it stays like this forever when the sun disappeared.

[NormsRevenge]

San Jose here and it’s real dark at 620 PM.

[bubbacluck]

It's definitely darker outside, just south of Sack a Tomatoes. We look through a silver CD. It filters out enough to see the eclipse.

But why am I seeing spots?...

[CrazyIvan]

“Look at it through a welding shield smoked glass.”

Laid back on the lawn chair in shorts, welding helmet, and a
cold beer. Glad I live in the country. Neighbors in town
might think this odd behavior.