A total solar eclipse is happening Aug. 21, 2017 and we have a limited supply of FREE viewers! Stop by our office, “Check In” to PineCone Vision Center on your Facebook page and show our staff to receive a FREE pair of solar eclipse viewers!
What is happening?
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, blocking our view of the sun. If you are standing in the moon’s shadow on Earth, you will see the sky darken and feel the temperature drop. The place where the sun should be will look like a black circle in the sky. You will be able to view the sun’s atmosphere, called the corona ? a halo of exceedingly hot gas that?s invisible under normal circumstances. Mike Kentrianakis, the solar eclipse project manager for the American Astronomical Society, calls it ?the most gorgeous natural wonder you will ever see.?
Eye Portection for looking at the Sun
Looking directly at the sun without eye protection can cause serious eye damage or blindness. But there are ways to safely observe the sun. During a partial solar eclipse, people often use pinhole cameras to watch the progress of the moon across the sun’s surface (pinhole cameras are easy to make at home). This is an “indirect” way of observing the sun, because the viewer sees only a projection of the sun and the moon.
To view the sun directly (and safely), use “solar-viewing glasses” or “eclipse glasses” or “personal solar filters” (these are all names for the same thing), according to the safety recommendations from NASA. The “lenses” of solar-viewing glasses are made from special-purpose solar filters that are hundreds of thousands of times darker than regular sunglasses, according to Rick Fienberg, press officer for the American Astronomical Society (AAS). These glasses are so dark that the face of the sun should be the only thing visible through them, Fienberg said. Solar-viewing glasses can be used to view a solar eclipse, or to look for sunspots on the sun’s surface.