After last weeks lunar eclipse, did you find yourself craving for more? Well, mark your calendars for Thursday, October 23 as theres a partial solar eclipse in the mix! A solar eclipse is created when the Moon, as it orbits the Earth, moves between the Sun and Earth. When this happens, the moon blocks the light of the Sun from reaching Earth. This causes an eclipse of the sun, or solar eclipse. During a solar eclipse, the moon casts a shadow onto Earth. Unfortunately, the east coast wont get to see much of it. For an animation of what we can expect to see check out shadowandsubstance/ The eclipse will begin at 5:51 pm EDT. Yup thats right before sunset, so the sun will set in eclipse. That only gives us 23 minutes plus or minus depending on your view of the west. Youll NEED an extremely good view of the western horizon and either solar eclipse shades, #14 welders glass or other safe means to observe the eclipse. Never look at the Sun outside of the total phase of an eclipse unless you have adequate eye protection. Permanent eye damage can result from looking at the disk of the Sun directly, or through a camera viewfinder, or with binoculars or a telescope even when only a thin crescent of the Sun or Bailys Beads remain. The 1 percent of the Suns surface still visible is about 10,000 times brighter than the full moon. Staring at the Sun under such circumstances is like using a magnifying glass to focus sunlight onto tinder. The retina is delicate and irreplaceable. There is little or nothing a retinal surgeon will be able to do to help you. So if you are wanting more than just a little nibble out of the sun, youll have to wait August 21, 2017. But that solar eclipse is one to definitely not miss! Image Credit: Romeo Durscher - partial eclipse during the total solar eclipse on November 13, 2012, Australia Image Credit: shadowandsubstance/
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 10:28:22 +0000
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