Should you take a photograph? Can you use binoculars? We've got answers. Plus, why this eclipse has special meaning for eclipse scientists and enthusiasts.
If anyone is still looking for certified eclipse glasses, American Paper Optics is shipping FedEx for another day or two it you're a slacker like me. Their website is "eclipse glasses dot com."
(I don't work for them, I get nothing out of recommending them, etc.)
Happy viewing! May the clouds be in your favor! 😎☀️
If you don't have glasses, making a pinhole projector to watch the eclipse is also incredibly easy. You can use a colander and see lots of tiny eclipses, or even just curl your fingers into a circle (think the OK signal) and use that. Tree leaves (if there are any where you are) work great too.
On a plane right now, headed to Muncie, Indiana, where I have a cousin I can stay with. I watched in Seattle in 2017, but it was only about 94%. Muncie is in the path of totality. Eclipse glasses in my suitcase! Thanks for the viewing tips.
I've been experimenting. The real solar glasses are incredibly dark, the only thing you can see with them is the sun, otherwise they are pitch black. If light is leaking through your solar glasses, they're probably fake.
Also, I didn't see this in your post, if it's there never mind, but from what I'm reading it is extremely dangerous to use unshielded optics like binoculars and telescopes with solar glasses on, because the optic focuses the sun's rays and will melt through your solar glasses. To use binoculars or telescopes or camera lenses you need to shield the lens of the optic with solar film or a filter.
This is a good point. I'm not sure if this will actually melt your eclipse glasses, but they certainly won't afford you adequate protection. Do not try to look through these without appropriate front-end filters!
TBH, I don't think binoculars and telescopes allow you to see much during the partial phases that you can't see with your unaided eye, so my advice is to use that time to observe the world around you — shadows are more interesting even than the sky at this time! — and save the binoculars for totality.
If anyone is still looking for certified eclipse glasses, American Paper Optics is shipping FedEx for another day or two it you're a slacker like me. Their website is "eclipse glasses dot com."
(I don't work for them, I get nothing out of recommending them, etc.)
Happy viewing! May the clouds be in your favor! 😎☀️
If you don't have glasses, making a pinhole projector to watch the eclipse is also incredibly easy. You can use a colander and see lots of tiny eclipses, or even just curl your fingers into a circle (think the OK signal) and use that. Tree leaves (if there are any where you are) work great too.
I love looking at the little projections on the ground from the sun shining through the leaves. It's so trippy!
The colander idea is really fantastic! I'll pack one and I'll say "Thanks, Dan!”
On a plane right now, headed to Muncie, Indiana, where I have a cousin I can stay with. I watched in Seattle in 2017, but it was only about 94%. Muncie is in the path of totality. Eclipse glasses in my suitcase! Thanks for the viewing tips.
The weather forecast for Indiana looks fantastic! Happy viewing!
I've been experimenting. The real solar glasses are incredibly dark, the only thing you can see with them is the sun, otherwise they are pitch black. If light is leaking through your solar glasses, they're probably fake.
Also, I didn't see this in your post, if it's there never mind, but from what I'm reading it is extremely dangerous to use unshielded optics like binoculars and telescopes with solar glasses on, because the optic focuses the sun's rays and will melt through your solar glasses. To use binoculars or telescopes or camera lenses you need to shield the lens of the optic with solar film or a filter.
This is a good point. I'm not sure if this will actually melt your eclipse glasses, but they certainly won't afford you adequate protection. Do not try to look through these without appropriate front-end filters!
TBH, I don't think binoculars and telescopes allow you to see much during the partial phases that you can't see with your unaided eye, so my advice is to use that time to observe the world around you — shadows are more interesting even than the sky at this time! — and save the binoculars for totality.