Ring of Fire
Just last month, on the 21st of May, many lucky people were able to witness the Ring of Fire Solar Eclipse. This type of solar eclipse happens when the moon goes between the Sun and the Earth. It becomes an annular solar eclipse, like the one on May 21st only when the the moons diameter looks smaller than the Sun resulting in a Ring of Fire as it’s totally in front of the sun blocking out most of the suns rays. An annular solar eclipse doesn’t occur very often and is very rare. I have only seen it one other time in my lifetime of 57 years.
Venus becomes visible on the Sun
Now we have had the thrill of seeing the planet Venus cross over the face of the Sun. This has been a very exciting year for astronomers. Venus crossing over the face of the sun is an event that will not happen again for 105 years. Last night, June 5th, 2012, a small dot was seen moving across the face of the sun. It moved very slowly. The whole event took a little more than 6 and a half hours. North and central area of America, and South America were able to view the crossing as the sun set. Northwest America, the Arctic, western Pacific and eastern Asia were able to view the whole crossing. The UK and the rest of Europe, the Middle East and the eastern parts of Africa saw it as the sun rose in the morning.
Best place to view Venus
One of the best places to have been to see Venus crossing the sun was Hawaii. You could see the whole event there. Many people got to view it safely as many places set up safe ways to allow the public to view the event. You could not watch it directly. You had to have a type of shadow box to allow you to watch it without damaging your eyes. What more wonders will we experience this year? I have enjoyed these two events and I am hoping for more to come.
