rod
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
If you are on the path of this Sunday's eclipse, and with the luck of good weather, this will be a rare treat and opportunity to be awed by the complicated clockwork of our Solar System. If you were to wander around the Universe, you might have to wander far to find another conjunction of circumstances that matches our home base ... we have a very large single moon, that stabilizes our world, and by a miraculous coincidence, the perception of the disc the Moon and the Sun both make, from our view point, is almost identical... one half a degree of included angle. One object is gigantic and very far away, the other in comparison is very tiny yet very close, so they have fooled us for millennium, by looking about the same size, and this is very convenient when one overshadows the other.
Those of us near to Southern Oregon and Northern California should be lucky, and I am planning to drive north a few hours to the Redding area which should be on the optimum path, where the whole event will be seen from start to finish before sunset. The forecast is hopeful. May 20, around 5.30 pm local time here is when you should be set up.
By happy coincidence, our colleague, Katherine Plumer is in process of moving to a ranch in that area, so she and I and others will rendez vous up there, and I am looking forward to my first "Annular Eclipse". The moon will cast its shadow bull's eye over the sun, but the moon, being on a slightly larger radius in its elliptical orbit around our Earth, will not quite darken the sun completely, as it sometimes does in a "Full Eclipse". At maximum cover, a ring of light will still shine out at the rim, hence the term 'annular'. 88% of the Sun will be blanked out, and the remaining 12 % will still give some light, but, hey, it is virtually in my back yard, so I will be there.
Katherine has a special filter lens for her camera, and I am just adding sun filters to my binoculars which block 99.9 % of the sun's light, it is safe to watch the event this way with both x10 and x15 magnification.
Do watch if you are on the lucky path, but do watch out for your eyes! Sun glasses are a big No NO! Dark arc welders glass will work, or get some inexpensive card board frame filter glasses for a few bucks from your local supply.
Here I am fitting some removable specialty filter Mylar to my stuff. Apparently, one should not stretch the Mylar tight, as you see.
That funny aluminum tube thing on the big binocs will hold a green pointing laser. Once a very expensive gizmo, the price has dropped and it is very good as a pointer to aim your instruments. In this particular case, not much difficulty finding the target if it is an enormous local star called the Sun.
I plan to view safely, and I know you will! Don't forget the transit of Venus in early June?
best
Rod
Those of us near to Southern Oregon and Northern California should be lucky, and I am planning to drive north a few hours to the Redding area which should be on the optimum path, where the whole event will be seen from start to finish before sunset. The forecast is hopeful. May 20, around 5.30 pm local time here is when you should be set up.
By happy coincidence, our colleague, Katherine Plumer is in process of moving to a ranch in that area, so she and I and others will rendez vous up there, and I am looking forward to my first "Annular Eclipse". The moon will cast its shadow bull's eye over the sun, but the moon, being on a slightly larger radius in its elliptical orbit around our Earth, will not quite darken the sun completely, as it sometimes does in a "Full Eclipse". At maximum cover, a ring of light will still shine out at the rim, hence the term 'annular'. 88% of the Sun will be blanked out, and the remaining 12 % will still give some light, but, hey, it is virtually in my back yard, so I will be there.
Katherine has a special filter lens for her camera, and I am just adding sun filters to my binoculars which block 99.9 % of the sun's light, it is safe to watch the event this way with both x10 and x15 magnification.
Do watch if you are on the lucky path, but do watch out for your eyes! Sun glasses are a big No NO! Dark arc welders glass will work, or get some inexpensive card board frame filter glasses for a few bucks from your local supply.
Here I am fitting some removable specialty filter Mylar to my stuff. Apparently, one should not stretch the Mylar tight, as you see.
That funny aluminum tube thing on the big binocs will hold a green pointing laser. Once a very expensive gizmo, the price has dropped and it is very good as a pointer to aim your instruments. In this particular case, not much difficulty finding the target if it is an enormous local star called the Sun.
I plan to view safely, and I know you will! Don't forget the transit of Venus in early June?
best
Rod
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