Annular Eclipse

We have certainly been privy to a few natural phenomenons since we've lived on Okinawa: typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis, and now an annular solar eclipse.  This is one of the phenomenons that only happen once every 60 years or so and we happened to be in the right place, at the right time, and luckily with the right weather!

This is a copy from the website tracking the documentation of the eclipse from the top of Mt. Fuji, but it explains the eclipse and where we are relative to it very well.  We are not quite in the zone to see a total solar eclipse, but close to it!

So we set our alarms for 5:50 this morning as the event was supposed to begin shortly after 6:00 am.  We were joined by some sleepy neighbors awaiting the spectacle.

London's ready in his PJ's, rain boots and sun glasses!

Turns out, the sun doesn't crest our hill until more like 6:30, but that was ok as the majority of the action took place after that.  First we saw the bright sun as the sky was clear, and it was hard to see!

See the sun just coming over the tops of the trees with a patch of black on the upper right?

But then the clouds started moving in which I thought was a bad thing, but it turned out to make it much better conditions for viewing the eclipse.  Here are my awesome, eerie pictures...

It's a smiley face!

What a cool way to start the morning!