Tomorrow morning there’s a partial and annular solar eclipse. I would like you to see it if you can, and I would like you to do so safely and not harm your eyes.
QUICK REVIEW & SUMMARY:
- Lunar Eclipse – 100% safe to look at with the naked eye, binoculars, telescope, whatever
- Partial Solar Eclipse – NEED EYE PROTECTION
- Annular Eclipse – NEED EYE PROTECTION
- Total Solar Eclipse – NEED EYE PROTECTION during the partial phases before and after totality, but 100% safe to look at with the naked eye during the few seconds to a couple minutes of totality only
Got it? There might be a quiz. Here’s a cheat sheet:
2023 Safe Eclipse Viewing Flyer – Digital Download
If you’re pretty much anywhere in the Americas you’ll have a chance to see at least a partial eclipse tomorrow morning. In Los Angeles, for example, the first contact of the Moon’s limb covering the edge of the Sun is at 08:07:58, the final contact is at 10:50:09, and the greatest partial coverage is at 09:24:33, with about 74% of the Sun covered.
A good site to get timing and coverage information for your location is here, at timeanddate.com.
For the record, if you’re someplace like here where the eclipse is only partial, don’t expect anything spectacular if you’re not actually looking at the Sun. It won’t get noticeably darker or anything unless you’re in the path of the annular eclipse.
If you’re in the path of the annular eclipse, you’ll see the Moon pass in front of the Sun, but at a distance from Earth where it looks slightly smaller than the Sun, so a ring of the Sun will always be visible. Thus the need for eye protection.
News flash – the Sun is really freakin’ bright! Even having the Moon block 99% of the Sun still means you can do serious eye damage to yourself if you’re not protected.
You need real “eclipse glasses,” with film that’s designed to block enough light to make them safe. Hopefully you got them well in advance, they’ll be tough to find (or freakishly expensive) tomorrow. (Yes, of course, I always have a dozen or so pairs around… But that doesn’t help you.)
Do NOT use regular sunglasses. They’re not strong enough.
Do NOT use something like tin foil or some dark filters that you got out of a birthday fruit basket sometime five years ago.
If you’re stuck without eclipse glasses and you still want to see, you CAN make a pinhole projector. Get a large sheet of cardboard or poster board. Poke a teeny, tiny pinhole in the middle. Hold the cardboard a foot or so off of the ground, square to the sun, so that the shadow of the board is visible on the ground. The Sun’s image will show up in the middle of that shadow, projecting through the pinhole. You may have to fiddle with how far off the ground to hold it, but it’s easy, cheap, and really works!
Another safe way to watch it, including the annular phases even if you’re not in the path of the annular eclipse, even if your sky is covered with clouds, is on NASA-TV.
Be safe! Enjoy the partial eclipse, and if you’re lucky enough to be in the path of the annular eclipse, enjoy that even more!
Clear skies!
No fried eyeballs!
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 