Solar eclipse 2012: Check out the gorgeous pictures of the ring of fire eclipse

On Sunday May 20, the first solar eclipse in years appeared in the sky. Between 5:24 p.m. PST and 7:24 p.m., the moon blocked out the sun and left gorgeous crescent shaped shadows across the Western United States.

Twitter was abuzz with posts and pictures about the event, including a tweet from Katy Perry saying, "Tonight's Billboard Music Awards performance is sponsored by the solar eclipse... #venus"

Check out some of the stunning shots that were posted. Here's hoping these people didn't look directly at the sun. Did you get pictures of tonight's ring of fire eclipse? We'd love to see them. Post a link in the comments below.