May 18th, 2012
03:46 PM ET

Get ready for the eclipse!

Folks in the western U.S. are gearing up for the a full annular solar eclipse this Sunday evening, May 20.

The eclipse will first begin over China as the Moon begins to pass between the Sun and the Earth, and it will first become visible to the West Coast of the U.S. at 5:12 pm PDT, Sunday evening.

Annularity, or the time when the Moon obscures the Sun the most, will begin at 6:23 pm PDT for the coasts of northern California. That spectacular view will only last a few minutes, and residents of West Texas will be the last to view the annular eclipse as the Sun drops below the horizon.

The last time a full annular solar eclipse was visible to the U.S. was May 10, 1994.

The next annular eclipse visible to the U.S. will not happen again until October 14, 2023, so if you have a view, you don’t want to miss this one!

Planning to view the eclipse? Share your photos with CNN iReport and they could be featured on CNN.

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