Annular Solar Eclipse - The Ring of Fire

Today was one of the rare opportunities for the people of California to view a solar eclipse. A solar eclipse is when the moon crosses between the sun and the earth, thus blocking the sun from the earth. Even though it was partial in Los Angeles, the moon still covered about 85% of the sun. It was especially rare because it was an annular eclipse creating a "ring of fire." The "ring of fire" is an eclipse in which the moon blocks out all except the sun's outer edge, creating a ring of light around a dark circle. It began at about 5:24 p.m. and reached its maximum at about 6:38 p.m. The transit of the moon ended at 7:42 p.m.


Using a pinhole projection box that I created, I was able to view the solar eclipse without injuring my eyes. Even though the image was small and it wasn't a complete "ring of fire", it was still breathtaking. When I first heard about the annular eclipse, I immediately started doing research and tried to learn as much as I could about it. All that research made the experience of viewing the solar eclipse so much more enjoyable and made me appreciate the site more than I would have otherwise. It has always been my goal to view a solar eclipse, and I suppose my goal was fulfilled. That only means that my next goal is to view a total solar eclipse. Perhaps when I'm older, I will travel to an area where you are able to see that. Some day, it is my goal to go on a retreat of sorts to just view the wonders the sky. Today was just another step on my journey to learning about the sky.

I know that many people in Los Angeles were eager to view the solar eclipse today because in 1992, Los Angeles missed the full "ring of fire" eclipse due to the clouds. In contrast, there was perfect weather for viewing it today. In addition, it is evident that people were excited seeing how the Griffith Observatory and several other places sold out of eclipse glasses. The eclipse was first seen in China and Japan before moving to be seen in parts of the western United States. If you want to read the full coverage of the eclipse that the LA Times had, here is the link. 

This map shows where the full annular eclipse could have been seen. It is indicated by the gray area of the map.

Despite the fact I did not have an eclipse glasses, I used the alternative way of viewing it using a pinhole projection box. It didn't exactly look the best, but it did a pretty good job considering it was a box and piece of white paper. An alternative way of looking at it was projecting an image of the sun with a telescope or binoculars onto the ground. You could have also used a welder's mask #14. Despite how safe it may have seemed, looking at the sun through sunglasses or film is not safe and still causes eye damage. It may be better than staring at the sun with a naked eye, but it can still cause damage The safest way to view it is when the sun is projected onto a surface. I know that there's nothing you can do about it now that it's over, but I just thought it should be known for the next solar eclipse.

This was my pinhole projection box. It was just a box with a pinhole and a piece of white paper. Viewing the solar eclipse was as easy as aiming that box at the sun. It was simple and effective.

Here is the projection of the eclipse onto the paper. It wasn't exactly as big of a projection as I would have liked, but it was amazing nonetheless.

According to an LA Times article, the next solar eclipse will be in 2023 when 78% of the sun's diameter will be blocked by the sun. The next two after that will cover 83% of the sun's diameter in 2044 and 2045. The next major solar eclipse that will be greater than the one today will occur in 2071 when 91% of the sun will be covered. It is probably disappointing if you missed today's eclipse but know that there will be a few others in Los Angeles during your lifetime and many other eclipses around the world.