Solar Eclipse This Sunday: Here's How to View

A partial solar eclipse is expected to darken the sun between 5:16 and 7:40 p.m. Sunday, but astronomers are advising you look ver-r-r-r-y carefully.

How carefully?

Start by turning your back to the sun. Really.

"It is very important that everyone tempted by the sight of 84 percent of the sun's area being covered by the Moon take heed of the warnings you will hear for much of the coming week," a frequent radio commentator on all things astronomical.

People can watch by making do-it-yourself pinhole projectors. Then, view the eclipse by turning their back to the sun and letting the sun shine through the pinhole onto a piece of paper. From there, the progression of the moon's path can be seen.

While it's not a total eclipse, Sunday's event is still pretty special. The last time an "annular eclipse" took place was 18 years ago.

Optimum viewing time is 6:33 p.m. 

if you're unprepared, or like to leave things to chance Sunday afternoon, you can even look at the shadows cast by leaves on trees. If there are bug holes in the leaves, they pretty much do the same thing as a pinhole projector, writes Gary Baker in the newsletter of the Peninsula Astronomical Society newsletter.

And while you're under that tree, you might notice what a NASA Science's Science News article  says is special about an annular eclipse, described as having "a particular charm of its own." It renders sunbeams into "little rings of light," easily seen in the shadows of a leafy tree.

The NASA article on the partial eclipse quotes NASA's leading eclipse expert, Fred Espenak of the Goddard Space Flight Center, as saying he gives it a '9' on a scale of 1 to 10, In terms of visual spectacles.