The last Christmas eclipse was in 1954. The moon's partial passage between the sun and Earth blocked about half the solar disc in Northern states and about one-fourth of the sun in Houston, Miami and other areas in the South. Folks in California saw only a slightly dented sun. Eclipses are the most phenomenal experience. It's almost religious,'' says Mark Phillips, who heads Kidseclipse, educational Web site Partial eclipses, which typically happen a couple of times a year, don't excite scientists as much as full solar eclipses.
Full eclipses make visible the corona, a halo of superheated gas surrounding the sun.
Md. He maintains the space agency's eclipse Web site. Viewers should avoid looking directly at the eclipse unless equipped with CE-marked lenses with an optical density rating of five. Viewing the event through a pinhole projection of the sun onto the ground also is an option, perhaps the safest one, experts say. Espenak says No. 14 welder's goggles also should make viewing safe.