April 8 Eclipse, Part 2

This is Part 2 about the upcoming total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024. Again, there is important viewing safety information for the eclipse so please read carefully.

Remember, we will experience only 85% of the eclipse and we will NOT experience totality anywhere in North Carolina. Solar eclipse glasses, properly filtered telescopes, or simple projectors are the only way to see the eclipse safely.

The eclipse begins at 1:53 p.m. when the Moon begins its passage across the Sun. We call this first contact. The eclipse ends at 4:26 p.m. when the entire disk of the Sun is visible once again. In between these times, the Sun appears to have a chunk missing. Maximum eclipse happens at 3:11 p.m.

If you do not have solar glasses and filters, you can construct a projector to view an image of the Sun projected onto a piece of paper or the ground. Make a simple projector from anything that projects small round holes. A kitchen colander with holes, not a screen mesh, works great!

The simple projectors show a round image of the Sun with a chunk missing. The colander shows multiple images. A straw hat with loose weave works too.

We have safe solar glasses available at no charge. They work only as glasses you wear and they cannot be adapted to work with a telescope, camera, or binoculars. We do not recommend using solar glasses with your smart phone, as there is no way to know how your camera will react with a filter.

If you want photos of the eclipse, we recommend taking them from the images we project with our safe telescopes. We should have a Unistellar scope or two available at the Science Center. You can download their images to your phone.

Remember, you will severely damage your eyes if you observe this eclipse with your naked eyes, sunglasses, unfiltered binoculars, or telescopes. You will destroy you DSLR and phone cameras without filters.

Join us for safe solar viewing at Catawba Science Center from 1 until 5 p.m. on April 8.

Visit www.catawbasky.org for more information.