'Ring Of Fire' To Be Visible Sunday

There will be a chance for Baldwin Park residents to spot the annular eclipse Sunday, in which the moon will cover as much as 94 percent of the sun.

Hundreds of millions of people will be able to witness the event, according to NASA.

In Los Angeles, the sun will be nearly completely covered by the moon at roughly 6:40 p.m.

The annular path will begin in southern China. Traveling eastward, the shadow will quickly sweep along the southern coast of Japan. where the amount of time the sun will be covered will reach five minutes, experts said.

In the United States, the eclipse will begin around 5:30 p.m. Pacific time.

For the next two hours, a moon-shaped portion of the sun will go into hiding, according to a NASA website.

The greatest coverage should occur around 6:40 p.m. Pacific time.

Because some of the sun is always exposed during the eclipse, surrounding daylight won't seem too much different but shadows will have crescent-shaped sunbeams and rings of light in them, NASA reports.

Residents should look on the ground beneath leafy trees for the shapes.

Near the center-line of the eclipse, observers will experience the "ring of fire." As the moon crosses the sun dead-center, a circular strip or annulus of sunlight will completely surround the dark lunar disk, according to NASA.

It will look as though the sun has a big black hole in the middle.

"The ring of sunlight during annularity is blindingly bright," said NASA's leading eclipse expert Fred Espenak of the Goddard Space Flight Center.

Experts advise using a No. 14 welder's glass or some other commercial filtering device and not to look at the sun with the naked eye.