Exciting May Events

Here are a few lines I've copied from the Classical Astronomy Update. Let me encourage you to subscribe to that update. It comes by e-mail and includes helpful illustrations.

Annular Eclipse of the Sun, Sunday, May 20.  Though the east coast of the USA will miss it, most everyone else in the USA, along with Canada and Mexico, will have an opportunity to see this rare event.

Over west Texas, the Sun will set as a "ring of fire," where the Moon is blocking the Sun.  Most everyone else between the coasts will see the Sun setting in some stage of partial eclipse.

 In the western USA, the entire eclipse will be over before sunset.  In order to see the eclipse while the Sun is still high in the sky, you will need a Sun filter to protect your eyes.  You can use #14 welding glass, or you can view the eclipse through Eclipse Shades, available from our online ordering page. Also, you will need to order Eclipse Shades from our store by May 14 to insure delivery, and our quantities are limited.  I haven't seen a sunset eclipse in 10 years, so don't pass up on this one.

If you order Eclipse Shades for the annular eclipse, you can still use them two weeks later to see the

Venus Transit - Tuesday, June 5, 2012

On the evening of Tuesday, June 5, 2012, the entire North American continent will have the have the opportunity to witness the rare spectacle of a Venus transit. Though this will be visible over most of the world at some time of day, North America will be favored with access to this rare event in the evening hours, when most people are awake and off work.

 There will not be another Venus transit until December 2117, so no one alive today can expect to see another.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and
the stars, which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art
mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
- Psalm 8:3-4, a Psalm of David


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