Sunday evening, beginning at around 6pm California time, we experienced an annular solar eclipse. This is apparently rare, and occurs when the moon is farthest from Earth in its orbit and also between the sun and Earth, producing a brilliant corona encircling a dark disc. The eclipse was best viewed in a narrow band across the southwestern United States, from near the California/Oregon border to Texas.

We live in northern California near the edge of the area where a complete eclipse was seen. I had a piece of paper with holes punched in it ready for viewing the shadow and watching the progress of the darkening sky, but this wasn’t very impressive. What really worked best was watching the reflection of the sunlight through the trees around our house on our neighbor’s garage and the street.

We oohed and ahhed for about a half hour, and then went back to our regularly scheduled activities. What a treat!