Eclipses were, to the ancients, perhaps the most striking, important event in the heavens. Ritual and ceremony were practiced worldwide at the time of eclipses, and many astrologers were executed for failing to predict eclipses. Even today, people all over the globe feel a sense of awe and wonder at the times of eclipses; particularly solar eclipses.
There are two types of eclipses, lunar and solar. Lunar eclipses are the more common, and occur when the shadow of the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon. At this time, we see the Moon slowly turn red, and dark. If we were able to stand on the Moon, facing the Earth when this occurred, we would see a solar eclipse, with the earth blocking the Sun.
The rarer, and more dramatic type
of eclipse is known as a solar eclipse. This is when the Moon comes between
the Earth and the Sun, suddenly creating dusk to night time conditions during
the day. This February 26, the Sun will be eclipsed by the Moon at 1:20
pm. The Moon will cover the entire Sun as seen from the West Indies, and
will appear to cover about 20% of the Sun as seen from most of New England.
There are a few important tips to remember when viewing any solar eclipse. The most important is to never look directly at the Sun, even during an eclipse. There are, however, some safe ways of viewing the eclipse. The first method of safely viewing the sun consists of two sheets of white cardboard or poster board. Simply punch a small hole in one of the sheets, and hold it 13-30cm (9-12 inches) above the other sheet. Point the hole towards the Sun, and look at the image of the Sun on the back sheet. Move the sheets back and forth until the image of the Sun comes into focus.
Another method of safely viewing eclipses is to purchase a pair of inexpensive glasses commonly known as Eclipse Shades. These are cardboard glasses with two layers of mylar as their lenses. they block out 100% of the ultraviolet and infrared radiation, and 99.99% of the visible light, allowing you to safely view an eclipse. they average about two dollars, and are a worthwhile investment.
Many people claim that welder's glasses or two sheets of exposed black and white camera film are safe ways of viewing eclipses. Neither of these methods should be used, as they both allow dangerous amounts of radiation to reach your eye.
The least practical of the methods of viewing eclipses is also the most fascinating. By a trick of physics and geometry, quite often eclipses are projected beneath trees by their leaves. Due to the fact that this eclipse occurs in February, there is little chance that there will be many trees in the New England area, but observers elsewhere can use nature's own solar filter.
Be careful not to use any binoculars to view the eclipse, and never use a telescope to view a solar eclipse without a proper solar filter, which fits over the front of the telescope, blocking light before it ever reaches a single lens. Also, make sure to block the finderscope with a piece of tape on the front of it. Even if you are careful, and never look through the finderscope, just the heat from the Sun can damage the lenses in your finder.
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