April 8 Solar Eclipse: Everything You Need To Watch It Safe
Ever since we were kids, there was always this wonderful mystery and magic surrounding the solar eclipse. “Are you going to watch it, oh you can’t watch it directly!” The worlds smartest people line up to advise us how to watch the unwatchable. With the April 8 Solar Eclipse coming soon, we put together a list of fun facts to prepare you for the celestrial event of Spring.
Isn’t it cool to know that people around the world are paid fulltime jobs with benefits to study things that they will never touch or visit. There is one major thing to know about the Universe. We’ll never really know everything about it. Beyond a certain point, it is unknowable. Now, if you’re a believer of life after our physical world, then that’s whole new conversation. Order another beer!
What Is The Solar Eclipse?
According to AL.com:
People viewing the eclipse from the path of totality will be treated to the ghostly-white outer atmosphere of the sun, known as the corona, when the moon completely blocks out the sun’s disk during the total eclipse, NASA explained. Along the path, the sun will be blocked out for about 4-and-a-half minutes.
April 8 Solar Eclipse Viewing
Coming on April 8, we will see The Great American Eclipse. Millions across the U.S. will have the opportunity to see a total solar eclipse. Experts have given the viewing area a wonderful dramatic name known as The Path of Totality. This path will cross over 15 states. This means that people in the path of totality will experience the greatest periods of darkness when the moon blocks out the sun.
Which States Will See Solar Eclipse?
The Path of Totality will cross Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as small parts of Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.
What Time Should We Expect To See The Solar Eclipse?
According to Nasa.com:
North America that will experience totality is Mexico’s Pacific coast at around 11:07 a.m. PDT, according to NASA. It will exit continental North America on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada at 5:16 p.m. NDT.
You can plug in your zip code for the best viewing times using Nasa’s zip code search tool.
April 8 Solar Eclipse Concerns
Local officals in the 15 state path of viewing are asking visitors to charge cell phones, and prepare for larger than normal crowds migrating to the states to view the event. The period of darkness should be for about 4 and 1/2 minutes. AL.com said:
New York State Police said they are coordinating with other state, local and federal law enforcement, emergency and transportation agencies to prepare for the massive number of visitors coming to the state on April 8. The crowds are likely to be substantial, officials said, citing the 2017 solar eclipse where some regions experienced a 100 percent increase in population in the days leading up to and during the eclipse.
Viewing The April 8 Solar Eclipse Safely
Do NOT look at the Sun through a camera lens, telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device while wearing eclipse glasses or using a handheld solar viewer — the concentrated solar rays will burn through the filter and cause serious eye injury.
If you don’t have eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer, you can use an indirect viewing method, which does not involve looking directly at the Sun. One way is to use a pinhole projector, which has a small opening (for example, a hole punched in an index card) and projects an image of the Sun onto a nearby surface. With the Sun at your back, you can then safely view the projected image. Do NOT look at the Sun through the pinhole!
When watching the partial phases of the solar eclipse directly with your eyes, which happens before and after totality, you must look through safe solar viewing glasses (“eclipse glasses”) or a safe handheld solar viewer at all times. Eclipse glasses are NOT regular sunglasses; regular sunglasses, no matter how dark, are not safe for viewing the Sun. Safe solar viewers are thousands of times darker and ought to comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard. NASA does not approve any particular brand of solar viewers.
