Eclipse safety April 8
BROKEN BOW - On Monday, April 8, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada.
According to the Solar Eclipse map by NASA, Custer County will see a 70 to 75 percent partial eclipse. Western Nebraska and north central Nebraska should see 60 to 75 percent. Eastern Nebraska and south central Nebraska is in line for 75 to 85 percent.
The total solar eclipse will begin over the South Pacific Ocean. The first location in continental North America that will experience totality is Mexico’s Pacific coast at around 11:07 a.m. PDT.
The path of the eclipse enters the United States in Texas and travels through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, a small part of Tennesee, Indiana, a small part of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario and will exit continental North America on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at 5:16 p.m. NDT.
Some U.S. cities that will experience totality include, Dallas, Texas; Little Rock, Ark.; Paducah, Ky.; Carbodale,
Ill.; Evansville, Ind.; Cleveland, Ohio; Erie, Pa,; Buffalo, N.Y.; Burlington, Vt. and Caribou, Maine.
A partial eclipse will be visible throughout all 48 contiguous U.S. states.
Eye Safety During a Solar Eclipse
• Viewing any part of the sun through a camera lens, binoculars or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter will instantly cause severe eye injury.
• When watching the partial phases of the solar eclipse directly with your eyes, which happens before and after totality, you must look through safe solar viewing glasses (eclipse glasses) or a safe handheld solar viewer at all times. Eclipse glasses are not regular sunglasses. Regular sunglasses, no matter how dark, are not safe for viewing the Sun. Safe solar viewers are thousands of times darker and ought to comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard. NASA does not approve any particular brand of solar viewers.
• Always inspect your eclipse glasses or handheld viewer before use; if torn, scratched, or otherwise damaged, discard the device. Always supervise children using solar viewers.
• Do not look at the sun through a camera lens, telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device while wearing eclipse glasses or using a handheld solar viewer — the concentrated solar rays will burn through the filter and cause serious eye injury.
• If you don’t have eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer, you can use an indirect viewing method which does not involve looking directly at the Sun. One way is to use a pinhole projector, which has a small opening (for example, a hole punched in an index card) and projects an image of the Sun onto a nearby surface. With the Sun at your back, you can then safely view the projected image. Do not look at the Sun through the pinhole!
• Do not use eclipse glasses or handheld viewers with cameras, binoculars or telescopes. Those require different types of solar filters. When viewing the partial phases through cameras, binoculars or telescopes equipped with proper solar filters, you do not need to wear eclipse glasses. The solar filters do the same job as the eclipse glasses to protect your eyes. Seek expert advice from an astronomer before using a solar filter with a camera, telescope, binoculars or any other optical device.