Web edition: May 18, 2012 Look at the shadows cast by tree
leaves late Sunday afternoon, and they might look a little
different than usual. The usual dappled pattern of light passing
through holes in the leaves might look a bit more curvy, a bit
more ringlike. That’s because the moon will slip in front of the
sun on May 20, eclipsing most of the star’s disk but leaving the
glowing edges uncovered, an event called an annular eclipse.
During such an eclipse, the sun resembles a ring of fire in the
sky with a big black hole at its center. But don’t look at it
without proper filters, even when the eclipse is at its most
complete. No sense in permanently recording the image in the
form of eye damage. Viewers along the Pacific coasts from
southeast Asia to California will be in a prime spot to witness
this celestial game of hide-and-seek, which begins around 5:30
p.m., Pacific time. Over the next hour, the sun will slowly
slide behind the moon, which is near its farthest point from
Earth (that’s why the lunar footp