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NEW: Eclipse recap
Read our full day-after report on the eclipse, with photos
Our preview of the event, published in mid-December:
The Moon will appear to take a bite out of the Sun Christmas Day in a rare partial solar eclipse visible from all of the continental United States and most of North America.
The Moon's shadow will sweep spookily across a portion of Earth's surface beginning in the late morning on the East Coast and around sunrise in California.
The event will be visible from Central America to Canada. At the peak of the eclipse -- 12:23 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (17:23 GMT) -- about 72 percent of the Sun will be covered, as seen from extreme northern Canada. In the U.S. Northeast, the Sun will be 60-percent covered at the peak, and residents of the southwest will see just 20-percent coverage.
The eclipse will not be visible in Alaska or Hawaii.
Solar eclipses occur only at new Moon, and only when the Moon moves between Earth and the Sun. There are at least two solar eclipses each year, and never more than five, visible somewhere on Earth.
The next solar eclipse visible in the United States will not come until December 14, 2001 and will not be as spectacular as this year's event.
"It's not that often that the continental U.S. gets a chance to see one," said Fred Espenak, an eclipse expert at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "And the fact that it happens on Christmas Day is an enormous coincidence."
The last solar eclipse to occur on Christmas Day was in 1954, an event visible only in Africa, said Jack Dunn of the University of Nebraska's Mueller Planetarium. The next solar eclipse on a December 25th occurs in 2307, visible off the western coast of Africa.
| Eclipse Terms |
| Partial eclipse
The Moon covers only part of the Sun. Total eclipse
The Moon covers the entire disk of the Sun along a narrow path across the Earth. Annular eclipse
The Moon is too far from Earth to completely cover the Sun. A thin ring of the Sun's disk surrounds the Moon. |
Watch, don't look
Astronomers warn that it is extremely dangerous to look directly at the Sun -- especially during a partial eclipse. Total solar eclipses -- an even rarer event -- completely block the solar disk, turning day into night. But a partial eclipse leaves a portion of the Sun uncovered and can only be viewed using special equipment.
Espenak says the most satisfying way to view the event is to purchase glasses with special filters made expressly for viewing the Sun. Such glasses are available at astronomy stores, he said.
Or, Espenak suggests, get a piece of number 14 welder's glass from a welding supply store. "Being able to hold this up to your eye and look directly at the eclipse just gives people the most amount of satisfaction," he said.
Related NASA Links
Predictions for the December 25 2000 Eclipse from NASA
Photography and Safe Eclipse Viewing Tips
Sources for eclipse glasses and solar filters
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