This image was captured around 8am on July 22, 2009, in Wuhan, China, Hubei Province. The crescent shape is the presence of the moon covering the sun in a total solar eclipse. This beautiful and natural phenomenon occurs because the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth and therefore, the moon partially or completely covers the sun resulting in a crescent shape. This particular solar eclipse only lasted for a maximum of 6 minutes and 39 seconds, and solar eclipses are relatively short in length. This image was captured after the total solar eclipse had occurred and the moon had already begun to move away from the sun. The Sun in this photograph is a reflection captured in a bowl of black ink. To view the solar eclipse, protection of the eyes is needed because the sun’s rays are still damaging to the naked eye. There are many ways to view the eclipse such as, through x-ray film. Photographic film, or a bowl of black ink

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Yipeng Ge
Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School, Waterloo, ON
First Prize ( High School Individual Category )

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