The Twin Ports is Excited for the Solar Eclipse
A solar eclipse will be visible to North and South America, Africa, and Europe on August 21st. However, a complete solar eclipse will be visible throughout parts of the United States. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon lines up with the sun, completely covering it. This hasn’t happened in the US since 1979! The moon will block the sun for about 3 hours from beginning to end, but the total eclipse lasts only 2 min and 40 seconds maximum which occurs in Carbondale, Illinois. Check the map below for the path of totality (100% total eclipse):
Anything outside this main path will see only a partial eclipse. That includes here in Duluth, MN. We will begin to see the eclipse at 11:46am and it will end at 2:27pm. The peak eclipse will happen at 1:07pm.
How to View a Solar Eclipse Safely
So how can we safely watch it? Staring at the sun directly can cause permanent vision loss. We recommend watching it indirectly, projecting the image onto a screen or the ground. Solar glasses do exist, but be careful what you purchase online. NASA recommends glasses or welder’s goggles rated 14 or higher or ISO 12312-2 compliant. They cannot have any defects and have to be worn and fit correctly. Sunglasses are not sufficient! Some telescopes, binoculars, and cameras have solar filters that can be safely used. The only time it’s safe to remove your solar glasses and look at the eclipse is during the 2 minutes and 40 seconds of totality. We are not in the path of a total eclipse, so glasses should be worn and safety precautions should be taken the entire time!
How to View a Solar Eclipse Indirectly
Below are some illustrations of how to project the eclipse image for safe viewing:
Buy Solar Eclipse Glasses From a Trusted Source
If you are still looking to purchase eclipse glasses, here is a link from the American Academy of Ophthalmology of approved vendors. https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters
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