Solar Eclipses

2024 Total Solar Eclipse

• Links for live viewing on April 8:

Exploratorium/ASP - https://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/livestream

NASA - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2MJY_ptQW1o

• NASA map and facts for 2024-04-08: https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2024Apr08T.GIF

• 2024 Eclipse Maps by State - https://nationaleclipse.com/maps.html

• Major cities in the path of totality with approximate durations estimated from https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2024Apr08Tgoogle.html: Ft Worth,  Dallas (3min51s), Little Rock (2min29s), Indianapolis (3min52s), Cleveland (3min48s), Buffalo (3min45s), Rochester (3min39s), Montreal (1min40s), Niagara Falls (3min32s)?
  Other cities close to the path of totality: San Antonio, St Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Manchester NH, Portland ME.

• GLPA Education Committee 2024 Eclipse Resources

• National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) eclipse page - https://www.nsta.org/eclipse 

General eclipse pages

• • Eclipse resources and activities (Andy Fraknoi)

  • NASA eclipse page - Espenek pages

  • Exploratorium eclipse page

  • Google Earth overlays for solar eclipses: http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/SolarEclipsesGoogleEarth.html

  • History of eclipses in North America: www.greatamericaneclipse.com/20th-century/

  • Ian Cameron Smith's Eclipse Search Engine

  • International Astronomical Union (IAU) eclipse page

  • https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/

  • Maps of eclipse paths - xjubier.free.fr, http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/Solar_Eclipses.html

  • Satellite view of solar eclipse shadow sweeping across the Earth as seen with Meteosat-8, March 29, 2006 - www.satsignal.eu/wxsat/eclipse-2006.htm

Eclipse Safety

See https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety and https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/iso-certification. Look through green Shade 14 welder's glass, or through special eclipse glasses ("CE certified") sold by a reputable vendor such as Rainbow Symphony; see https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters for an extensive list of options. The filter *must* block 99.999% of the Sun's visible light and 100% of the Sun's ultraviolet and infrared light, or your eyes could be very seriously damaged (even blindness is possible). Enclosing welder's glass or eclipse glasses in "goggles" can create a MUCH more pleasant and enjoyable viewing experience. Regular sunglasses (even polarized ones) are NOT suitable at all, and neither is smoked glass or an exposed/developed film negative. If you use binoculars or a telescope, a proper filter *must* be placed at the front end of the device (closest to the Sun). Please be VERY careful when observing the Sun!

You can also use the pinhole camera technique, which is much safer: punch a hole (roughly the width of a pencil is a reasonable size) in a sheet of cardboard and look at the image of the Sun projected onto a shaded region below the cardboard. If you use a colander or other object having lots of holes (such as a straw hat), you'll get many images of the partially eclipsed Sun. Holes between the leaves of a tree can act like pinhole cameras and produce many Sun images on the ground.

SAFE WAY TO VIEW SOLAR ECLIPSE also andrewcarnegie.tripod.com/solflyer2.htm

Info from Andy Fraknoi about materials and guides produced with the grant from the Moore Foundation (that funds 10,000 public libraries around the country to provide 5 million free eclipse glasses, plus information, for the two upcoming eclipses):

• Booklet for Librarians and Library Patrons: http://bit.ly/eclipsesforlibraries (includes sheets in English and in Spanish for each eclipse for the public)

• Booklet for Science Teachers and Other Educators: http://bit.ly/eclipsesforteachers (includes sheets for each eclipse to send home to families)

• Booklet for School Administrators: http://bit.ly/eclipsesforadministrators 

• Basic Activities about Eclipses, the Moon, and the Sun that are Free on the Web: http://bit.ly/teacheclipse  

• How to Find an "Eclipse Expert" in Your Community: http://bit.ly/eclipseexpert 

• Fiction, Music, Films, and other Creative Expressions Inspired by Eclipses: http://bit.ly/eclipsesand 

• Map of the Public Libraries that Have Signed up to Distribute Glasses and Information: http://www.scigames.org/eclipse/map/ (click on the map to make it larger, and then hover over each pin to see the name of the library or library system)

• When the Sun Goes Dark, children’s book on eclipses by Fraknoi & Schatz, published by nonprofit NSTA Press: http://bit.ly/sungoesdark