Solar eclipse seen from Halo Trail near Reno, Nevada

On Sunday, May 20, 2012, a rare alignment of the Earth, Moon and Sun took place. This was an annular eclipse with the Moon directly in front of the Sun, while a ring of sunlight, nicknamed ring of fire, remained visible around the disc of the Moon. Since the Sun was not entirely covered by the Moon, it was not safe to look unaided at the constellation—even during the five minutes of totality. In the Reno/Tahoe area, however, clouds were passing through and were partially or fully covering the Sun for various times while “the Moon was moving across the sun.” Such intervals gave an opportunity for direct glimpses and photographing. The top picture above shows a half-ring of fire blurred by cloud movement. The lower picture to the right shows the Sun about half an hour past totality, still partially covered. The Halo Trail and other treeless locations around Mt. Peavine provide great places to watch celestial events. While some solar-eclipse observers were aiming northeast to Pyramid Lake to capture the maximum eclipse with a perfectly centered moon, hikers and bikers from the Truckee Meadows populated the Peavine hills and slopes to find their best angle of view.