Today's photo is another amazing image of the heavens, although those of us in Maryland were not treated to this event. Yesterday evening, the western and central parts of the nation had the opportunity to view an annular or "ring of fire" eclipse of the sun. As opposed to a total eclipse, a small ring of the sun is left exposed around the edges of the shadow of the moon, resulting in a spectacular glowing halo. My brother and nephew hopped a plane from Atlanta to Phoenix and road tripped to the Grand Canyon to get a front row seat for this one. This picture was taken with my brother's telescope at the peak.
I recall the excitement of the 1979 total eclipse that was viewable from California. I was a 7th grader at Willis Jepson Junior High. The eclipse occurred during school hours, so no school work got done that day, but it was as good a science lesson as any of us ever had. We all made our pinhole cameras the day before and had a variety of instruments to view the event. As much as we were warned not to look directly at it, I think most of us did at some point. It was just too hard to resist. I don't know of any classmates that went blind from it, although it may be responsible for the glasses I wear today.
The next annular eclipse viewable from the US will not be until 2023. In 2017, however, we should get a nice view of a total eclipse. It will probably just be partial from Maryland, but if you road trip to Kentucky or Tennessee or somewhere in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, you will get a prime view of totality. It should exit the US through South Carolina. My Dad will have to get me the money shots of that one from his SC farm.
Thanks to my brother Greg and nephew Percy for making the pilgrimage and being the eyes for the George family out west. I'm so happy they got a look down at the wonder of the Grand Canyon and a look up at the wonder of the heavens. Very big memories can be packed into very short journeys.
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