Want to see it?

Don’t try to look without taking precautions

Dr. Paul Koblas is an Arizona Western College astronomy professor, and he gets to start the new semester off with a dimming of the most important star to Earth by far.

“It’s happening during my first astronomy class meeting, so we’ll be coming in and out of the classroom and looking at it,” he said. “But I’m busy getting my semester of astronomy class going, so I won’t be holding any kind of an event here on campus, other than conducting my class. But we’re certainly going to be very interested in looking at what’s going on, it’s a very rare event.”

A total or “reasonably partial” solar eclipse hasn’t happened in the U.S. for 38 years, he said, Many others have happened since then, but in other parts of the world. Having one like Monday’s, visible across the entire country, is especially rare, though it’ll be more partial in some areas than others.

“It’ll be a 58 percent eclipse here in Yuma but it’ll be really interesting. It should get darker, almost two-thirds of the sun will be blocked by the moon so it’s going to get dimmer here,” he said.

“And people will have to have official eclipse glasses in order to safely look at the sun. Sunglasses aren’t adequate, they’re dangerous, actually, because although it blocks the visible light it doesn’t block the infrared and ultraviolet.”

Yumans will be holding some special eclipse-viewing parties Monday morning, but those who can’t get to one of them can still get the whole experience, as long as they exercise the proper precautions.

Locally, the eclipse will occur from about 9 a.m. to noon, with the peak viewing experience at about 10:30 a.m., Koblas said.

Viewers are advised not to look at the sun directly unless they have NASAapproved eclipse viewing glasses, which have been sold at many stores, but as of late last week many of them were starting to run out of stock, as eclipse fever built up.

“For my class, I ordered them last May,” Koblas laughed.

Consumers should try to make sure the eclipse shades they’re buying are really up to the task, meeting ISO 12312-2 safety standard. They will fit over prescription eyeglasses. No. 14

welding goggles will also be acceptable eyewear, Koblas said.

Those who do have the safety glasses should not look through a camera, telescope or any other optical device at the sun, as they will intensify the sun’s rays and cause damage to the eye. Those with solar filters that attach to the front of a camera, binoculars, telescope, etc. should consult an astronomer before use.

Of course, there’s always the old “pinhole projection” method for observing the eclipse if proper shades aren’t available.

“You can have a small hole in something, a piece of cardboard or piece of

metal or something and project it on the ground, let the sunlight go through the pinhole and make an image on the ground and you can look at the image safely. Koblas said.

“Actually, I’ve seen you can use a cheese grater, because it has a whole lot of holes and it makes a whole lot of images of the sun, on the ground. So you can use the shadow, of the cheese grater or whatever you’re using, and then makes an image of the sun where the circle is blocking the sunlight.”

It doesn’t make a lot of difference where you go within Yuma County to watch the eclipse--you need to go to another part of the

country to see it in its totality. Koblas said he just came back from spending the summer in a part of Oregon which sits in the “path of totality.” It will be among the first in the country to experience a total eclipse as the shadow moves from the northwest to the southeast, which is why Yuma is only getting 58 percent.

“My two sisters are right in the path of the total eclipse, my son and grandkids and all, and I came back to Yuma. So many people in my family are going to see the total eclipse,” he said.

NASA has posted much more information about the eclipse at eclipse2017. nasa.gov.