An annular solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of orbit between Sunday, May 20 and Monday, May 21, 2012,[1][2][3] with a magnitude of 0.9439.

[5] The path of the eclipse's antumbra included heavily populated regions of China and Japan, and an estimated 100 million people in those areas were capable of viewing annularity.

The eclipse was visible in a band spanning through East Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and North America.

As a partial solar eclipse, it was visible from Greenland to Hawaii, and from eastern Indonesia at sunrise to western North America at sunset.

Travelling northeast, the antumbra of the eclipse approached and passed over the cities of Macau, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Xiamen, reaching Taipei by 6:10 a.m NST.

After crossing the East China Sea, it passed over much of eastern Japan, including Osaka and Tokyo at 7:28 a.m and 7:32 a.m JST respectively, before entering the Pacific Ocean.

[7][8] The path of the antumbra over highly populated areas allowed at least an estimated 100 million people to view annularity.

[9] Because the eclipse took place during the summer monsoon season in Southeast Asia, viewing conditions were not ideal in some areas, including Hong Kong.

The eclipse continued to travel southeast, passing 30 miles (48 km) north of Las Vegas, Nevada, over St. George, Utah, and reaching the Grand Canyon by approximately 6:33 p.m MST.

Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee).