On May 21, 2012, an annular solar eclipse begins over southeast China and passes over Japan. When the eclipse crosses the International Date Line, the local date becomes May 20. The eclipse then enters the California/Oregon border, passes in the late afternoon over Nevada, Utah, Arizona, a corner of Colorado, New Mexico, and ends at sunset in Texas.







An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon’s apparent disk is just smaller than the Sun’s disk and the Sun appears as a brilliant ring. This spectacular sight can only be safely observed with approved solar filters or by projecting an image of the eclipsed Sun onto a flat white surface. See observing instructions at http://transitofvenus.nl/wp/observing/six-ways-to-see-the-transit/







Recommended links for further information







NASA’s eclipse web site http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2012May20Agoogle.html







Detailed weather reports for this eclipse at Jay Anderson’s web site, http://eclipser.ca/







Descriptions and interactive maps by Bill Kramer at http://www.eclipse-chasers.com/tseNext.php?TSE=ase2012d







Interactive Google map by Xavier Jubier at http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/ASE_20120520_pg01.html.







National Astronomical Observatory of Japan: http://naojcamp.mtk.nao.ac.jp/phenomena/20120521/summary-en.html







U.S. Naval Observatory and HM Nautical Almanac Office: http://astro.ukho.gov.uk/eclipse/0132012/







Credits







The video and all maps on this page are made by Michael Zeiler, curator of eclipse-maps.com, using GIS software from his employer, www.esri.com. The maps apply eclipse calculations by Bill Kramer with eclipse timing corrections for the precise profile of the moon. The lunar profile was derived from laser altimeter data from the Japanese Kaguya lunar orbiter by Dave Herald. The eclipse lines were calculated by Xavier Jubier and the Besselian elements used for eclipse calculations are by Jean Meeus and Fred Espenak. The careful map reader will note that the isodurations (lines of equal eclipse duration) on the maps are not symmetric around the central line of eclipse or perfectly smooth; this is due to the corrections for the actual lunar profile.





