North America to be treated to solar eclipse on Aug. 21
Be safe when viewing
This image was taken from the Mir space station during a solar eclipse on Aug. 11, 1999. The shadow of the Moon was projected onto Earth. Submitted photo
NORTHEAST OHIO – All of North America will be treated to a total solar eclipse of the sun on Monday, Aug. 21.
This celestial event has the moon passing between the sun and Earth and blocks all or part of the sun for up to about three hours, from beginning to end. For this eclipse, the longest period when the moon completely blocks the sun from any given location along the path will be about two minutes and 40 seconds. The last time the contiguous U.S. saw a total eclipse was in 1979.
You might think that this should happen every month since the moon’s orbit, depending on how it is defined is between about 27 and 29 days long. But our moon’s orbit is tilted with respect to Earth’s orbit around the sun by about five degrees.
The path of totality, where one can view the moon fully covering the sun, is a thin ribbon about 70 miles wide. The first point of contact in the United States is Lincoln Beach, Ore. at 9:05 a.m. PDT. Totality begins there at 10:16 a.m. PDT. The total eclipse will end near Charleston, S.C. at 2:48 p.m. EDT.
Northeast Ohio will experience a partial solar eclipse, about 80 percent. The eclipse will start at 1:06 p.m., reach its maximum at 2:30 p.m. and end around 3:51 p.m.
One local venue, Wolf Creek Environmental Center in Medina County, is holding an event to help locals view the event safely the day of the eclipse. On Aug. 21 from noon to 4 p.m., the center, located at 6100 Ridge Road in Sharon Township, will help viewers safely view the eclipse, learn more about the solar occurrence and participate in a variety of sun-related activities. There is no registration required, the event is free and all ages are welcome.
Be safe
Never look directly into the sun without appropriate eye protection. Doing so could severely hurt your eyes. You will need some type of filtering device.
The only safe way to look at the sun is through a pinhole projector or special-purpose solar filters (such as eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers). Ordinary sunglasses, no matter how dark, and homemade filters are not safe for looking at the sun. According to NASA, these devices still transmit thousands of times too much sunlight to your eyes.
Experts suggests that one widely available filter for safe solar viewing is welder’s glass of sufficiently high number. The only ones that are safe for direct viewing of the sun with your eyes are those of Shade 12 or higher. These are much darker than the filters used for most kinds of welding. If you have an old welder’s helmet around the house and are thinking of using it to view the sun, make sure you know the filter’s shade number. If it’s less than 12 (and it probably is), don’t even think about using it to look at the sun. Many people find the Sun too bright even in a Shade 12 filter, and some find the Sun too dim in a Shade 14 filter — but Shade 13 filters are uncommon and can be hard to find.
Always inspect your solar filter before use; if scratched or damaged, discard it. Read and follow any instructions printed on or packaged with the filter.
Always supervise children using solar filters. Stand still and cover your eyes with your eclipse glasses or solar viewer before looking up at the bright sun. After looking at the sun, turn away and remove your filter — do not remove it while looking at the sun.
Do not look at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed sun through an unfiltered camera, telescope, binoculars, or other optical device. Similarly, do not look at the sun through a camera, a telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device while using your eclipse glasses or hand-held solar viewer — the concentrated solar rays will damage the filter and enter your eye(s), causing serious injury.
If you normally wear eyeglasses, keep them on. Put your eclipse glasses on over them, or hold your handheld viewer in front of them.
Visit https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety for a list of reputable solar filters and viewers, as well as more guidelines for safely seeing the eclipse.
This celestial event has the moon passing between the sun and Earth and blocks all or part of the sun for up to about three hours, from beginning to end. For this eclipse, the longest period when the moon completely blocks the sun from any given location along the path will be about two minutes and 40 seconds. The last time the contiguous U.S. saw a total eclipse was in 1979.
You might think that this should happen every month since the moon’s orbit, depending on how it is defined is between about 27 and 29 days long. But our moon’s orbit is tilted with respect to Earth’s orbit around the sun by about five degrees.
The path of totality, where one can view the moon fully covering the sun, is a thin ribbon about 70 miles wide. The first point of contact in the United States is Lincoln Beach, Ore. at 9:05 a.m. PDT. Totality begins there at 10:16 a.m. PDT. The total eclipse will end near Charleston, S.C. at 2:48 p.m. EDT.
Northeast Ohio will experience a partial solar eclipse, about 80 percent. The eclipse will start at 1:06 p.m., reach its maximum at 2:30 p.m. and end around 3:51 p.m.
One local venue, Wolf Creek Environmental Center in Medina County, is holding an event to help locals view the event safely the day of the eclipse. On Aug. 21 from noon to 4 p.m., the center, located at 6100 Ridge Road in Sharon Township, will help viewers safely view the eclipse, learn more about the solar occurrence and participate in a variety of sun-related activities. There is no registration required, the event is free and all ages are welcome.
Be safe
Never look directly into the sun without appropriate eye protection. Doing so could severely hurt your eyes. You will need some type of filtering device.
The only safe way to look at the sun is through a pinhole projector or special-purpose solar filters (such as eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers). Ordinary sunglasses, no matter how dark, and homemade filters are not safe for looking at the sun. According to NASA, these devices still transmit thousands of times too much sunlight to your eyes.
Experts suggests that one widely available filter for safe solar viewing is welder’s glass of sufficiently high number. The only ones that are safe for direct viewing of the sun with your eyes are those of Shade 12 or higher. These are much darker than the filters used for most kinds of welding. If you have an old welder’s helmet around the house and are thinking of using it to view the sun, make sure you know the filter’s shade number. If it’s less than 12 (and it probably is), don’t even think about using it to look at the sun. Many people find the Sun too bright even in a Shade 12 filter, and some find the Sun too dim in a Shade 14 filter — but Shade 13 filters are uncommon and can be hard to find.
Always inspect your solar filter before use; if scratched or damaged, discard it. Read and follow any instructions printed on or packaged with the filter.
Always supervise children using solar filters. Stand still and cover your eyes with your eclipse glasses or solar viewer before looking up at the bright sun. After looking at the sun, turn away and remove your filter — do not remove it while looking at the sun.
Do not look at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed sun through an unfiltered camera, telescope, binoculars, or other optical device. Similarly, do not look at the sun through a camera, a telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device while using your eclipse glasses or hand-held solar viewer — the concentrated solar rays will damage the filter and enter your eye(s), causing serious injury.
If you normally wear eyeglasses, keep them on. Put your eclipse glasses on over them, or hold your handheld viewer in front of them.
Visit https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety for a list of reputable solar filters and viewers, as well as more guidelines for safely seeing the eclipse.