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Monday, April 8, 2024

The Eclipse - questions and answers


From Britannica. Out of copyright. Early photo of an eclipse.

1 Don't Look With Naked Eyes
When my huband was a child in primary schol October 2nd 1959, the children were told to use completely black neatives from rolls of film, one over each eye, to see the eclipse.  You just saw a ring of light. We worked out the date by the dates a total eclipse was seen over the whole of the UK. He rememberd which school he was at. That narrowed down the date.

Take a photo. But don't look at the eclipse. I remember this advice from last time. I know to wear sunglasses in sunny weather, even when not looking directly at the sun. I once read it can cause or accelerate cataracts in older people. I know you are supposed to wear goggles when skiing even on overcase days to prevent snow blindness. 

You can buy special glasses online, if you have time. Or attend an event where you see a projection. Or make up a pinhole camera device, which is either difficult or dangerous in my view. 

However, US TV channel Fox news has been running demonstrations of making a viewer from a cereal box. One important thing is to stand with the sun behind you.

2 Don't drive

The sudden plunge into darkness can cause accidents. 

UK

Cities in the north of England are in luck. Fortunately, for risk aversion types like me, London does not get a view, only the north of England Although there are annual partial eclipses, a full moon eclipse won't be in the UK for another 60 or so years. Although I was hoping to live beyond a hundred years of age, that timing is rather challenging for me.

My late father was an optitican. But he is not here for me to ask. I went to Wikpedia. As usual, I found an enormous amount of highly technical information. But lots of links to sources, plus useful and engaging articles on related subjects. 

I could try Simple Wikipedia, but I got sidetracked by the number of solar eclipses, and moon eclipses, full partial eclipses, partial eclipses, even triple eeclipses or ratter two items hidden behind a third. If you miss this one, there will be another.

USA & Mexico

The eclipse is appearing in a line down the USA and Mexico. We have friends in the UK who went to Mexico especially to see the eclipse.

Debate

We were debating hether the eclipse is always in the day, or night, or sunset. 

'You don't see the sun at night. So it can't be at night.'

' But what about countries which have midnight sun?'

Types of Eclipse

Basically, an eclipse is a bigger object hiding a smaller one. It happens all over the universe as everything moves around. You can have solar exlipses, lunar eclipses, whole eclipses and partial eclipses. Eclipses of moons and planets, all sorts of things. 

The Word Eclipse

The word eclipse comes from the Greek, like so many scientific terms.  The metaphor to eclipse somebody is related. If I stand in front of somebody smller on a stage, I am eclipsing them. If my win in a speech contest gets more publicity than somebody else's entry, my win eclipses theirs. (Or vice versa.) 

I now have more questions than answers about solar eclipses. But I know more now than I did before.

In olden times people feared it was the end of the world.Now we know it isn't.

Animals in zoos are spooked out. Then go silent.

USA

I was on my computer watching on the large screen live from Fox. 

The commentator said that in Mexico people were clapping, cheering and crying. Next stop was Texas.

How to make A shoebox Viewer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTi-6-NSxNo

Hints on safety, and making a pinhole camera and how to hold it, and safe use of covered mirrors, except for a pinhole, here.

https://www.today.com/health/how-to-watch-eclipse-without-glasses-rcna146875 

More Information From

https://www.today.com/health/how-to-watch-eclipse-without-glasses-rcna146875

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13283203/Solar-Eclipse-rare-UK-tonight-9-towns-cities.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_solar_eclipses_in_the_21st_century

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