Often, when we hear about a Solar Eclipse, it’s described as when the day turns into night, and it is safe to view the sun (as the sun is blocked by the moon). This eclipse is an annular eclipse often called the “Ring of Fire” and therefore never reaches totality (the point at which the sun is completely covered by the moon). Rather, the sun is always visible and, even at the time of maximum eclipse, 11:58 a.m. this Sunday, it is not safe to remove eclipse eyewear (the ring of fire burns VERY bright). Corpus Christi falls directly in the alignment of the annular eclipse, and we at the Texan Times encourage all of our students to experience this astronomically amazing phenomenon! Free eclipse glasses can be picked up at any Corpus Christi Public Library.
Interesting fact! (Post-eclipse ponderings)
When watching the eclipse, many talk about how the moon is moving to cover the sun. However, the movement occurring is actually the rising of the sun. This is due to both celestial bodies relatively (due to the rotation of the Earth) moving East to West. Since the moon was covering the sun by “moving down” (impossible due to the fact that it was morning) the actual movement was the sun moving faster than the moon to be eclipsed! Watching the eclipse can help you learn fun little bits of information, such as the fact that the time between one moonrise and the next is greater than the time between one sunrise and the next.
