Tree Leaves and Annular Eclipse

October 24, 2005

Imgp8808

Provided by: Paul Schlyter
Summary authors & editors: Paul Schlyter

The fascinating photo above showing shadows through leaves was captured during the annular phase of the solar eclipse of October 3, 2005. It was taken just south of Valencia, Spain -- 5 km north of the center path line of this eclipse. It's well known that during the partial phases of a total solar eclipse (before and after totality), tree leaves act as multiple pinhole cameras, causing images of the crescent or un-eclipsed part of the Sun to appear on the ground. During an annular solar eclipse, these images will appear as rings instead of crescents.

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