This is about what we in Tucson can expect our sky to look like at 6:40 PM Sunday.

On May 20^th, three days from now, the late afternoon sun will disappear. At least for a several minutes. And from Tucson, it won’t entirely disappear. Nevertheless, the event will be spectacular.

On Sunday, beginning around 5:31 PM our time, we will be able to witness an annular solar eclipse whereby the moon will obscure about 86% of the sun.  Those of us viewing this celestial event from Tucson will see it at its zenith at 6:40 PM. The event will end at 7:41 PM give or take a fraction of a second.

An annular solar eclipse is one where the moon appears slightly smaller than the sun. This happens when the moon is farther away from earth than during a total eclipse of the sun.

Diagram of an annular solar eclipse.

To see the total annular eclipse, you will have to be in the center of its path. Specifically, you will have to be standing on the roof of a houseboat on Lake Powell or on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Or you can wonder over to Albuquerque. The Navajos of Canyon De Chelly will have a particularly good view.

No matter where you view the eclipse from, do not look at the sun without eye protection. For more on eye safety go to the NASA website.

Here’s  more ideas for protecting your eyes: http://earthsky.org/

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 17th, 2012 at 6:23 am and is filed under Astronomy, Local Attractions, Picture of the Day, Things To Do With The Kidz, Upcoming Local Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.