• A wondrous annular or ring eclipse of the sun takes place on May 20, 2012 as seen from the southwestern U.S. - on May 21 according to calendars in Asia and Indonesia. For a comprehensive post about the annular eclipse, look here. This post will focus on the partial eclipse, which much of the world will be able to see. Given clear skies, all but the eastern part of North America can watch a partial eclipse of the sun in the afternoon hours on May 20. Much of eastern Asia and Indonesia will see the partial eclipse on the morning of May 21.
• First, what happens on May

20/21? As seen on the map above, a partial solar eclipse can be viewed today (May 20 or 21 if you're west of the International Dateline) from almost all over the North Pacific Ocean, much of North America, Greenland, eastern Asia and parts of Indonesia. The partial eclipse can be seen from a wide area that goes as far north as the Arctic and as far south as Indonesia and Mexico. Meanwhile, only a small sliver of the globe will be in a position to see the annular eclipse (the narrow red band extending from southeast China to the southwestern United States).
• What is an annular eclipse? In an annular - or ring - eclipse, the moon crosses directly in front of the sun, much as it does during a total solar eclipse. But, at an annular eclipse, the moon is too far away in its monthly orbit around Earth to appear large enough in our sky to cover the sun completely. So, at mid-eclipse - instead of the moon covering the sun completely, as in a total eclipse, turning the sky dark and blotting the sun from view - in an annular eclipse a ring surrounds the moon silhouette. This dazzling ring is the outer edge of the sun. An annular eclipse is a partial eclipse in the sense that the moon never blots out the sun completely. At no time can you gaze at an annular eclipse without protective solar filters to prevent damage

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