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Monday, May 21, 2012

Annular Eclipse - May 20, 2012



According to this map, Live Oak, was barely in the zone where annularity could be observed (unlike my hometown of Albuquerque, which was squarely on the annularity path). So, I would have to look fast to see the annulus!

Wearing two pair of sunglasses (the same ones I purchased on the Mexican cruise in 2010) I did indeed see the annulus, but barely: just for 30 seconds at the most. Still, it was there! Success!

Looking conspicuous at the roadside, people sometimes honked, and one even asked what I was doing as he drove away in his pickup truck. I pointed at the sun, but I don't know if anyone understood.

Here are a series of pinhole images of the progression of the eclipse:














I tried to get images of the annulus with the digital camera, but the challenge was too great for this camera. Despite the presence of the moon, the annulus is so bright that it overwhelmed everything else. Nevertheless, there must have been a little pinhole somewhere in the outer pair of sunglasses, because in the lower left is an image of the progress of the eclipse.






Below is a series of photos showing the same scene. I was hoping the effect of the darkening would be visible, but it may have been too subtle for the camera (particularly as the camera automatically adjusts as the lighting changes. Nevertheless, I noticed the darkening. To me, it felt like an unidentifiable oppression: like it was clouding up, even though there were no clouds in the sky.







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