Southern California sky watchers were blessed by a rare celestial event on Sunday, May 20, 2013 when the moon passed in front of the sun and created an annular solar eclipse. An annular solar eclipse happens when the moon and the sun align but the apparent diameter of the moon is less than the apparent diameter of the sun, creating a ring of light, or "annulus" around the sun instead of blocking it completely.
The geometry didn't favor viewing the eclipse from San Diego, so instead of seeing an annular eclipse, we got to see a partial eclipse. But it was a spectacular sight nonetheless with approximately 80% of the sun's disk covered by the moon at the peak of the event. The sun set before the moon could completely pull away from the sun, making the sunset even more beautiful. In retrospect, it was an incredible event that I was fortunate enough to share with my family and friends. Solar and lunar eclipses are like bookmarks of our lives -- we are only here for a short period of time, and most people can count how many eclipses they've seen over their life on one hand.
I succeeded in capturing a couple of "white light" images of the eclipse with my ETX 60 and Celestron Solar Filter, and I will post them soon. I was unable to capture any clear images with my Coronado PST Hydrogen Alpha solar telescope.
Here's a link to NASA's Eclipse Page detailing this incredible event:
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2012May20Agoogle.htmlThe geometry didn't favor viewing the eclipse from San Diego, so instead of seeing an annular eclipse, we got to see a partial eclipse. But it was a spectacular sight nonetheless with approximately 80% of the sun's disk covered by the moon at the peak of the event. The sun set before the moon could completely pull away from the sun, making the sunset even more beautiful. In retrospect, it was an incredible event that I was fortunate enough to share with my family and friends. Solar and lunar eclipses are like bookmarks of our lives -- we are only here for a short period of time, and most people can count how many eclipses they've seen over their life on one hand.
I succeeded in capturing a couple of "white light" images of the eclipse with my ETX 60 and Celestron Solar Filter, and I will post them soon. I was unable to capture any clear images with my Coronado PST Hydrogen Alpha solar telescope.
Here's a link to NASA's Eclipse Page detailing this incredible event:
And here's a Quicktime simulation video I made using my trusty old Starry Nights astronomy program. This video simulates the 2 hour 15 minute eclipse as seen from San Diego in 3 minutes and 52 seconds.
