EDMONTON – It’s been 22 years since Edmontonians got a chance to see that relatively rare celestial event when the moon blots out part of the sun and brings a little bit of magic to the day.
Beginning at 6:01 p.m., Sunday’s partial solar eclipse will not have that “ring of fire” which occurs during an annular eclipse, when the moon is farther away and does not block out all of the sun’s light. Still, at the peak of this eclipse, nearly 60 per cent of the sun will be obscured.
“What we’re going to have is just a partial eclipse, so instead of that ring, it will be almost like a chunk bit out of the sun…it’s like a crescent moon, but a crescent sun in this case, “explains Trevor Prentice, a staff scientist at the Telus World of Science in Edmonton.
“It’s a really cool astronomical event to watch. We’re not used to seeing the sun that way with part of it obscured,” Prentice says.
“It spurs people’s imagination, gets them interested in astronomy in general so maybe they can have an interest in looking at other cool things up in the sky.”
Before looking skyward however, experts are warning Canadians to make sure they view the eclipse only with the right equipment.
“You should never look at the sun directly, even if it is eclipsed,” says Prentice. “It can damage your eyes and create permanent blindness or, in the best case scenario, you might an image of the sun on your retina for the rest of your life.”
Regular sunglasses, smoked glass, exposed photographic film, dark garbage bags and binoculars or telescopes without proper filters will not protect eyes during a solar eclipse and are unsafe to use.
Number 14 welding filter glass can also be used to take in the event safely as the dark green glass filters out much of the visible light and all of the harmful invisible radiation. It can be obtained from most welding supply stores.
Those with a telescope or binoculars can obtain solar filters they can place at the front of their equipment before the light enters the device.
And for those who can’t get their hands on any of that equipment, a simple home-made solution is available as well. A pinhole camera can be created with two pieces of white cardboard by cutting a small hole in the middle of one and covering it with aluminium foil. After pricking a tiny hole in the foil and facing away from the sun, the two pieces of cardboard can be held up so the sun’s image shines through the pinhole onto the other sheet.
Special metal coated solar viewing glasses, which are being handed out by some observatories or are on sale at many science centres, are a safe way to watch the partial eclipse.
Edmontonians who don’t want to go to that trouble, can watch the eclipse at Telus World of Science, where experts and the right viewing equipment will be on hand. There will be telescopes set up by the Observatory for safe public viewing from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. using proper solar filters on the telescopes. Safe viewing glasses will also be available for purchase at the gift shop in limited quantities.
Canadians who do get their hands on safe solar viewing equipment, though, would do well to hold on to it as another celestial event takes place a few days after the eclipse.
Called the “Transit of Venus,” the event takes place on June 5th.
“That’s a much rarer event when the planet Venus is silhouetted against the sun,” Eric Briggs, secretary at the Toronto chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, explains.
Venus’ shadow will appear as a tiny dot traversing the solar surface. Such transits occur in pairs, with the 2012 transit succeeding its earlier partner, which took place in June 2004.
The next pair of transits are expected to take place in December 2117 and December 2125.
Comments