MERIDIAN, Idaho — Dozens of people at Julius M. Kleiner Memorial Park in Meridian watched the annular solar eclipse Saturday morning.
Saturday's eclipse passed through North, Central and South America. It was the first annular eclipse in the region since 2012, and the last visible from Idaho until 2046.
"I was pretty excited about the eclipse," community member Elaine Pope said. "It looks like the moon caught on fire, and you don't get to see that every day."
Eclipses happen every six months, astronomy expert Irwin Horowitz said. However, whether someone can see it just depends on the location.
He said the eclipse could cut through the middle of the ocean or could be in some part of the world requiring international travel.
While Saturday's eclipse was an annual eclipse, the Boise area only saw roughly 84% of it. Elko and Winnemucca were the closest places to see it at 100% annularity.
"The path passed little south of here in Northern Nevada, and for the folks who are down there, what they actually got to see was a ring of sunlight at the time of maximum coverage," Horowitz said. "While we only saw like horns, wrapping around this partly around the moon ... they were actually able to see a ring, which is called an annulus. Hence the word annular solar eclipse.”
The eclipse started at 9:30 a.m. and lasted a little more than an hour. There were some clouds, which hindered visibility a bit. However, the eclipse was in full view at maximum coverage for viewers in Meridian.
"It's something that I haven't seen for such a long time," Pope said. "It's just something cool.”
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