Solar eclipse caught on camera (photos)

Millions watched agape as the moon swallowed up most of the sun during Sunday's annular solar eclipse.

James Martin

May 21, 2012 4:50 p.m. PT

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James Martin/CNET

Millions of people across eastern Asia and the western U.S. had a great view of the annular eclipse Sunday night, the first since 1994, in which the moon passes in front of the sun leaving only a golden ring around its edges, creating a "ring of fire."

The moon was never completely centered in the sun during the viewing of the eclipse from the San Francisco Bay Area, so no ring of fire was seen.

Click on for more photos, and don't miss our stunning video images captured by CNET cameraman Jared Kohler.

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James Martin/CNET

The colored lens flares were seen as crescents due to the eclipse.

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James Martin/CNET

During an annular solar eclipse the moon is too far from Earth and appears too small in the sky to block out the sun completely.

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James Martin/CNET

The annular eclipse is seen here at 6:29 p.m. PT from the San Francisco Bay Area on Sunday May 20, 2012.

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James Martin/CNET

The safest way to view an eclipse is by indirect projection. Here, an image of the eclipse is projected onto a white piece of paper through a pair of binoculars. The projected image of the sun can then be safely viewed.

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James Martin/CNET

Shadows of the eclipse are projected by the dozen onto a house in Alameda, Calif., on Sunday.

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James Martin/CNET

The moon was never completely centered in the sun during the viewing of the eclipse from San Francisco.

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James Martin/CNET

The crescent sun appears behind the moon during Sunday's annular solar eclipse as seen from Northern California.

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Daniel Terdiman/CNET

Crescent shadows are seen on the ground in the Marin Headlands during the eclipse on Sunday May 20, 2012.

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JAXA/Hinode

Low-Earth orbit satellite Hinode captured this photo of the annular eclipse on Sunday May 20, 2012. Hinode is in a sun-synchronous polar orbit which gives it nearly continuous observations of the sun using its optical, extreme ultraviolet (EUV), and x-ray instruments to investigate the interaction between the Sun's magnetic field and its corona.

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JAXA/Hinode

Low-Earth orbit satellite Hinode captured these photos of the annular eclipse on Sunday May 20, 2012. Hinode is in a sun-synchronous polar orbit which gives it nearly continuous observations of the sun using its optical, extreme ultraviolet (EUV), and x-ray instruments to investigate the interaction between the Sun's magnetic field and its corona.