North America watches Christmas eclipse

Melinda Siskoff uses protective eyewear to view the partial eclipse Monday in Rock Island, Illinois

By Richard Stenger
CNN.com Writer

(CNN) -- The sun and moon put on a rare Christmas show as sky gazers across much of North America witnessed a partial solar eclipse.

Such an event won't happen again on Christmas Day for more than three centuries.

Jack Horkheimer, executive director of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium, described the event to CNN as a "cosmic ballet." Solar eclipses only occur at new moon. Such events often seal young people's decisions to go into astronomy as a career, Horkheimer said.

Many observers fashioned primitive pinhole cameras to catch a glimpse of the crescent sun. Others spied legions of eclipse silhouettes on the ground as sunlight beamed through tiny breaks in the leaves of trees and shrubs.

Sky watchers in different latitudes watched "bites" of various sizes removed from the sun as the moon passed in front of it, leaving a darkened shadow on the Earth.

At the peak of the eclipse, 12:23 p.m. EST, about 72 percent of the sun's diameter appeared darkened from remote regions of northern Canada. Peak eclipse times took place at slightly different times in other parts of North America.

GALLERY Pictures of the eclipse    VIDEO The heavens will put on a special display on Christmas day, reports CNN's Ann Kellan Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     ALSO Eclipse times by city From Sky & Telescope: How to watch a solar eclipse safely     MESSAGE BOARD Stargazing

The eclipse magnitude, or percent of the sun's diameter covered by the moon, varied over the continental United States from more than 60 percent in the northeast to under 20 percent in the extreme southwest.

Viewers in parts of Central America and the Caribbean also caught a glimpse of an even slighter eclipse.

The holiday light show took place near the height of an 11-year cycle of sunspot activity on the sun. The moon could be seen in contact with some of the spots, according to Sky & Telescope magazine.

Astronomers cautioned observers not to look directly at the sun, including during a solar eclipse.

"The eclipse itself if no more dangerous to view than the sun is on any other day," said NASA scientist Fred Espenak in a statement. "The only difference is that human curiosity impels some people to stare directly at the sun during an eclipse and this can cause permanent damage to your eyesight."

larger   Eclipse diagram (Copyright 2000 Sky Publishing Corp.)

Espenak advised eclipse watchers to use specially designed solar filters on optical devices or even a simple pinhole camera, which allows users to view a projected image of the sun.

Eclipses can only happen when a new moon passes between the sun and Earth. Observers can see the eclipse if the moon's shadow passes over them as it sweeps across the planet.

The last solar eclipse on December 25 occurred in 1954. It was an annular eclipse, in which case the moon darkens most of the sun but leaves a "ring of fire" around the edges.

The next total solar eclipse will darken parts of South America and Africa on June 21, 2001. Another Christmas Day solar eclipse, a partial one, won't happen until 2307.

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