Total eclipse is ‘once in a lifetime’
Bonafide astronomers and local amateur star gazers alike are preparing to chase the sun, or rather the shade, caused by the coming total solar eclipse on Monday.
On that day the moon will pass between the Earth and the sun, completely blocking solar rays and pushing a shadow of darkness across the United States toward the Pacific Northwest.
Rod De Vries, president of the Medicine Hat Astronomy Club, said viewed from the local latitude, about four-fifths of the sun will be covered for about two hours before noon. That will mean “appreciable darkness ... that will be fun to watch.”
“We’ll see a partial eclipse — 81 per cent of the sun’s disc will be blocked — and that’s pretty good,” he said.
“But for all of the really cool stuff that happens during a total eclipse, you have to be in the 70-mile wide swath of the moon’s shadow to experience.”
DeVries and three compatriots are travelling to Idaho to view the full effects — birds roosting, the corona forming, stars appearing and day turning to night — and film the celestial event through his telescope.
“To have a total eclipse happening so close is fairly rare, once in a lifetime. That’s why people travel all over the world chasing them. It’s really worth it.”
U.S. space agency NASA states the next total solar eclipse involving Alberta or Saskatchewan will occur in the early afternoon of August 23, 2044.
Many Hatters may remember the eclipse that took place in southern Canada on February 26, 1979.
That occurred two days before local man Jeff Maier was born. He’s always had a passing interest in astronomy, and was planning this year’s vacation in the winter when he chanced upon some information about next week’s eclipse.
“We were undecided with what we were going to do and it was a fluke that I came across it,” said Maier, whose family of six is travelling to Oregon, where the high desert town of Madras is holding a week-long festival.
“It’s a good opportunity for our family to witness something that we might never see again.”
Nancy Maier said she is making it a learning experience.
Her older children have been learning about the solar system in school and a trip to the library is providing more background with books to read on the road trip.
The swath will travel across the width of the United States, from the southeastern Atlantic seaboard to the pacific north west. That includes a total eclipse seen in parts of southernmost Montana, Idaho and Oregon.
While the effect in southeast Alberta will not be as intense, DeVries says people still need to be careful when viewing the eclipse.
Safety first
“The sun is never safe to look at,” he said, warning against using regular sunglasses or visors, even if they are stacked.
“It’s not the bright light that you have to worry about. It’s the ultraviolet light.”
He recommends buying approved safety glasses, specifically for eclipses, from a major retailer or using No. 14 welder’s glass. Failing that, a pin-hole projector that will broadcast the image on another surface can be constructed relatively easily.