APOD: An Annular Solar Eclipse over New Mexico (2019 Dec 25)

Comments and questions about the APOD on the main view screen.
Post Reply
User avatar
APOD Robot
Otto Posterman
Posts: 5345
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:27 am
Contact:

APOD: An Annular Solar Eclipse over New Mexico (2019 Dec 25)

Post by APOD Robot » Wed Dec 25, 2019 5:05 am

Image An Annular Solar Eclipse over New Mexico

Explanation: What is this person doing? In 2012 an annular eclipse of the Sun was visible over a narrow path that crossed the northern Pacific Ocean and several western US states. In an annular solar eclipse, the Moon is too far from the Earth to block out the entire Sun, leaving the Sun peeking out over the Moon's disk in a ring of fire. To capture this unusual solar event, an industrious photographer drove from Arizona to New Mexico to find just the right vista. After setting up and just as the eclipsed Sun was setting over a ridge about 0.5 kilometers away, a person unknowingly walked right into the shot. Although grateful for the unexpected human element, the photographer never learned the identity of the silhouetted interloper. It appears likely, though, that the person is holding a circular device that would enable them to get their own view of the eclipse. The shot was taken at sunset on 2012 May 20 at 7:36 pm local time from a park near Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Tomorrow another annular solar eclipse will become visible, this time along a thin path starting in Saudi Arabia and going through southern India, Singapore, and Guam. However, almost all of Asia with a clear sky will be able to see, tomorrow, at the least, a partial solar eclipse.

<< Previous APOD This Day in APOD Next APOD >>

User avatar
orin stepanek
Plutopian
Posts: 8200
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: Nebraska

Re: APOD: An Annular Solar Eclipse over New Mexico (2019 Dec 25)

Post by orin stepanek » Wed Dec 25, 2019 11:40 am

Looks almost like a scene from a Sci Fi flick! :mrgreen:
Orin

Smile today; tomorrow's another day!

User avatar
Chris Peterson
Abominable Snowman
Posts: 18113
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: Guffey, Colorado, USA
Contact:

Re: APOD: An Annular Solar Eclipse over New Mexico (2019 Dec 25)

Post by Chris Peterson » Wed Dec 25, 2019 2:23 pm

I drove down and imaged that eclipse. Caught a phenomenon I've not heard of before- the green flash, not on the upper limb of the Sun, but on the eclipsed edge, against the Moon.
_
20120520_flash.jpg
Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
https://www.cloudbait.com

Tszabeau

Re: APOD: An Annular Solar Eclipse over New Mexico (2019 Dec 25)

Post by Tszabeau » Wed Dec 25, 2019 2:49 pm

That alignment defies astro-logic.

Post Reply