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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
