Solar Eclipse!

As almost everyone knows (unless you live under a rock, maybe) that we have just experienced a solar eclipse. Here in Utah, it wasn't a total eclipse, but it was pretty near! As my children described the time when the moon covered 90 percent of the sun, it didn't get very dark, but it was "like looking through sunglasses" at the world. Below, is a picture of the sun with the moon blocking most of it. Taken of course, through an approved sun viewing lens.

The next total solar eclipse that will occur in the United States will be the 8th of April in 2024. Just seven years from now! But there will be an annular eclipse on the 14th of October in 2023. Annular eclipses are not total solar eclipses, because during them, the sun forms a ring of fire around the moon, and isn't completely blocked. They happen because the orbit of the moon is elliptical, rather than perfectly circular, and during the eclipse, the moon is at a further point away from the earth than it is during a total solar eclipse, making the visible ring of fire possible. The cool thing about that eclipse, is that it will happen over Utah! Something for me and other Utahns to look forward to!