My science advisers informed the Mayor of a major solar event that is to occur today, Sunday, May 20. The event: a solar eclipse, in the early evening, that will be visible in Northern California to millions of residents. I almost forgot, until I overheard two individuals near Best Buy, mention it. Then I noticed a change in the ambient sunlight, a definite filtered effect that literally caused some concern. What was happening here?
I went home, grabbed some welder's goggles, and went to take a look at Old Sol. Sure enough, looking West, well above the horizon, above the surrounding hills, it appeared that something had carved a notch out of the sun. After a minute or so, the notch got noticeably larger, and clearly was moving right to left.
The sky was clear and visibility was excellent. I invited the Deputy Mayor to take a look through the welder's goggles(to shield the retinas from possible damage). She was afforded the best view: the Sun was now partially hidden by the mostly complete shadow of the moon, appearing as a round black spot. She returned the goggles, and I inspected the eclipse one more time: it was remarkable, and great timing on our part as we were able to observe the highlight of the event. Galileo would be proud!
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