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Eclipse watchers stunned by impressive ‘red dot’ prominences

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Full solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.

Bright red spots called prominences appeared along the solar disk during the total eclipse.Credit: Sumeet Kulkarni/Nature

Yesterday’s total eclipse stunned skywatchers. “It makes your heart want to skip a beat, and you cannot really describe it to someone who hasn’t experienced it in person,” retired educator Lynnice Carter told Nature. Some people could spot impressive solar prominences as reddish dots around the edges of the moon’s shadow. Prominences are enormous loops of plasma, many times bigger than Earth, that can last several months. They often appear red because they contain hydrogen glowing at extremely high temperatures.

Scientific American | 4 min read

An animated slideshow of three images showing an eclipse over a lake, the violet ‘ring of fire’ around the eclipsed Sun and a dog wearing eclipse glasses.

Thank you to everyone who’s shared their eclipse images with us! Connie Friedman’s view from a canoe on Lake Erie, Beth Peshkin’s portrait of Carly the dog putting safety first and Les Jones’s image of totality in Kingston, Canada, are among our favourites so far.

Modern Blackfoot people are closely related to the first humans that populated the Americas after the last ice age. DNA analysis of six modern and seven historic individuals shows that they belong to a previously undescribed genetic lineage that extends back to more than 18,000 years ago. The data add to evidence from Blackfoot oral traditions and archaeological findings, and could support the claims that these people have to ancestral lands.

Science | 5 min read

Reference: Science Advances paper

Some scientists in Brazil say their labs won’t have enough money to cover basic expenses such as electricity and water unless more funding is found. Institutions in the Amazon argue that they are the hardest hit because their federal support is already disproportionately low. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration is fighting to reverse some of the budget cuts imposed by the country’s legislators.

Nature | 5 min read

Features & opinion

The very different ways that communities of desert ants and forest ants find their food demonstrates how our unpredictably messy world drives the evolution of social behaviours, argues biologist Deborah Gordon in The Ecology of Collective Behavior. The idea is not as contentious as Gordon makes out, writes reviewer and ecologist Seirian Sumner. But it still highlights a crucial point: “The interactions between organisms and their environments have become increasingly overlooked because fewer researchers are studying animals in their natural environments.”

Nature | 6 min read

“I tried to compensate for my disability by working longer hours,” recalls biochemist Kamini Govender, who has a condition that severely affects her peripheral vision. She developed coping strategies, but ended up working at an unsustainable pace. “Over time, I have learnt to practise better self-care by knowing when to stop.” More needs to be done to include people with disabilities, Govender says. “In the sciences, few of these people make it to the level that I have, because of all the hurdles they come across. It’s easier to quit and give up.”

Nature | 6 min read

Several student-led groups and conferences are working to ensure that they have a part in determining AI’s role in education. Students recognize that the technology can be a double-edged sword, but caution against knee-jerk blanket bans. “In talking to lecturers, I noticed that there’s a gap between what educators think students do with ChatGPT and what students actually do,” says computer science student Johnny Chang.

Nature | 9 min read

Where I work

Dario Sandrini hikes the grounds of the Anse La Roche Nature Reserve in the North of Carriacou, Grenadines.

Dario Sandrini is director of the KIDO Foundation, Carriacou Island, Grenadines of Grenada.Credit: Micah B Rubin for Nature

Dario Sandrini’s environment and education foundation, KIDO, has run around 30 projects on the small Caribbean island of Carriacou — from protecting sea turtles to replanting mangroves. He’s now working on restoring areas that have been logged, in some cases, illegally. “With another ten years of care, we will see the forest resurge,” he says. (Nature | 3 min read)

Quote of the day

Don’t judge other people on the basis of the cognitive bias he co-discovered, says social psychologist David Dunning. Use the fact that people with limited competence in an area overestimate their expertise to reflect on yourself, instead. (Scientific American podcast | 33 min listen or 11 min read)

Today, I’m enjoying biologist-comedian Adam Ruben’s musings on those physically repetitive tasks that are part of many scientists’ lives. “So many accomplishments in science are vaporous,” Ruben writes. Although manual lab work can be unbelievably boring, it can also be incredibly satisfying. “It meant I had accomplished something tangible,” he says.

Please tell me about your favourite dull (lab) tasks, alongside any other feedback on this newsletter, by sending an email to [email protected].

Thanks for reading,

Katrina Krämer, associate editor, Nature Briefing

With contributions by Flora Graham and Sarah Tomlin

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I shot the eclipse with an iPhone 15 Pro Max, Google Pixel 8 Pro and a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra – here’s which one did best

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I had three flagship phones on three different tripods all aimed at a sun rapidly being crowded by a nuisance moon, and all I wanted was one or two excellent eclipse shots.

Turns out that photographing a solar eclipse with your smartphone is not that easy. In fact, figuring out a repeatable process without cauterizing your retinas is downright challenging. But I did it. I grabbed some of the best smartphones money can buy, the iPhone 15 Pro Max, Google Pixel 8 Pro, and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, and prepared for 180 minutes of celestial excitement.

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Computers

The Best Total Solar Eclipse Photos (2024)

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The arrival of the total solar eclipse in the US has brought with it an impressive array of photographs as well. If you weren’t able to find a spot to view the eclipse in person—or if it was stuck behind uncooperative clouds—you can at least get a sense of its grandeur through these photographs taken at different points along its journey.

The path of totality began in Mexico on Monday morning, working its way up through Texas by early afternoon. By 4:40 pm ET, it will have left the US entirely and headed into Canada. If you’re in or near its path, make sure to put on approved sunglasses—or make your own pinhole—to view it for yourself. And if you happen to have pets or live near wildlife, NASA could use a hand figuring out how animals respond to the eclipse.

Otherwise, enjoy these incredible photos of a total solar eclipse in North America. The next one is 20 years away.

Brady, TX

Photo of  the moon's descent below the sun's horizon during a total solar eclipse

Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Fort Worth, TX

Photo of partial  solar eclipse

Photograph: Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

San Francisco, CA

Photo of A view of a partial solar eclipse in San Francisco California

Photograph: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty Images

Milwaukee, WI

Photo of People taking in the partial solar eclipse outside of the Fiserv Forum on April 08 2024 in Milwaukee Wisconsin

Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Bloomington, IN

Photo of Early stages of a total solar eclipse in Bloomington Indiana

Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

Washington, DC

Photo of three woman watching the solar eclipse near the base of the Washington Monument on the National Mall

Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Photograph of the Moon passing in front of the Sun with the top of the Washington Monument in silhouette

Photograph: Bill Ingalls/NASA/Getty Images

New York, NY

Photo of woman wearing eclipse glasses at the Beam as she prepares to watch a partial solar eclipse from the Top of the...

Photograph: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Photo of A partial solar eclipse moves across the sky near the Crown of the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island

Photograph: Timothy A. Clary/Getty Images

Niagara Falls, NY

Photo of The moon eclipses the sun during a total solar eclipse across North America at Niagara Falls State Park in...

Photograph: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images

Stowe, VT

Photo of the moon eclipses the sun during a total solar eclipse across North America in Stowe Vermont

Photograph: Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images

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How to watch the total solar eclipse 2024 from anywhere in the world

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On Monday, April 8, the shadow of a total solar eclipse will pass over North America: stand in the right spot, and for a few minutes the moon will completely block out the sun, thanks to a rare alignment of celestial objects.

If you’re not able to get into a spot along the ‘path of totality’ yourself, you don’t have to miss out – there are plenty of ways to watch this spectacular natural show on the web, wherever you happen to be in the world. We’ve picked out some options below.

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How to photograph the total solar eclipse with your camera or smartphone

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The total solar eclipse is coming, and of course you’ll want to capture this once-in-a-lifetime moment with your best camera. Whether that’s your DSLR, mirrorless, or smartphone, we’re here to give you the best tips possible. But let’s be honest, taking photos of the sun is hard on a normal day, and the total eclipse won’t make things easier.

Let’s set expectations. Even if you have a great camera or one of the best smartphones, your camera and your equipment may not be up to the task, and you probably won’t get an amazing shot worth hanging on your wall or selling in a gallery, not unless you are a dedicated solar photographer.

Total Solar Eclipse showing people wearing glasses and looking at the eclipse

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

That’s why we have tips for taking the best shots of the eclipse that capture the moment and the special day, not just the sun and moon in the sky. We’ll teach you how to set up properly, stay safe during the eclipse, and have a great time taking your best shots.

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Computers

How Will the Solar Eclipse Affect Animals? NASA Needs Your Help to Find Out

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In other anecdotes, onlookers have reported birds that stop singing, crickets that stopped chirping, or bees that return to their hive, reduce their foraging, or suspend their flight during total darkness. But there are also studies that deny that some of these behaviors occur or can be attributed to the eclipse.

Therefore, NASA scientists plan not only to systematize observations but also to document what people hear and see under the shadow of the moon.

“The Great North American Eclipse”

NASA has created the Eclipse Soundscapes citizen science project to collect the experiences of volunteers. It was inspired by a study conducted nearly 100 years ago by William M. Wheeler and a team of collaborators. At that time, the Boston Natural History Society invited citizens, park rangers, and naturalists to report on the activities of birds, mammals, insects, reptiles, and fish during the summer eclipse of 1932. They collected nearly 500 reports. In their final report they note that some animals exhibited nocturnal behaviors such as returning to their nests and hives or making nighttime vocalizations.

The current NASA study will add observations made during the annular solar eclipse of October 14, 2023 and the total solar eclipse of April 8. The latter will be visible first in Mexico in Mazatlan, then in Nazas, Torreon, Monclova, and Piedras Negras. These localities will be located directly in the umbra of the eclipse and, therefore, their inhabitants will perceive it as total. In nearby regions it will be experienced as a partial eclipse, with less darkness. It will then enter the United States through Texas, passing through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Finally, it will travel across Canada from southern Ontario and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. Astronomical estimates point to the Mexican port of Mazatlan as the best place to observe the 2024 event, which will experience totality at about 11:07 am local time.

Image may contain Animal Beak Bird Sparrow Nature Night Outdoors Finch Astronomy and Moon

A sparrow experiencing a partial solar eclipse in Jize Country, Hebei Province, China, June 21, 2020.Future Publishing/Getty Images

How You Can Help

In the United States, 30 million people live in the area where the eclipse will be perceived as total. If you add in the Mexican and Canadian public, the potential for collecting experiences is immense. That’s what NASA wants to take advantage of.

The project foresees several levels of volunteering: apprentice, observer, data collector, data analyst, and facilitator.

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Bisnis Industri

Solar eclipse iPhone cases from Carved look stellar

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Solar eclipse iPhone cases by Carved
These iPhone cases are truly one of a kind.
Photo: Carved

A collection of 100 wild-looking smartphone cases inspired by the upcoming solar eclipse is selling out fast. The one-of-a-kind solar eclipse iPhone cases, made by the craftspeople at Carved, will give your handset an out-of-this-world look.

“We’ve been working hard to capture the essence of this coming 2024 eclipse,” the company said Friday on its Facebook page. “In all the excitement we’ve made a very limited run of eclipse designs just for you!”

This post contains affiliate links. Cult of Mac may earn a commission when you use our links to buy items.

Solar eclipse iPhone cases

We all know iPhones look gorgeous without cases, but sometimes you want (or need) a little protection. It’s easy to settle for something utilitarian like an Apple Silicone case (or an atrocity like an Apple FineWoven case). But finding a unique iPhone case that stands out in a sea of bland options can prove far more difficult.

Carved makes its cases out of hardwood and epoxy resin. The just-released ones in Carved’s eclipse collection look just as stunning as the others the company makes. And they’re one of a kind, so if you see one you like, you should snap it up now. Several have already sold out.

“Our Phone Cases are inspired by the beauty of our earth from the perspective of a satellite,” reads Carved’s description of the Brittney case, picture on the left above. “This phone case is 1 of One and is made in Elkhart, Indiana using real Ebony wood burl & epoxy resin.”

In case you’re wondering, Elkhart will be in the path of totality for Monday’s rare celestial event.

Carved’s solar eclipse iPhone cases cost around $60 and would make a perfect memento to help you remember the magical moment when the moon passes between the earth and the sun. Especially if you don’t get it together to take a proper solar eclipse photo. (Our how-to came help you snap the perfect eclipse pix: How to take solar eclipse photos with iPhone.)

Buy from: Carved



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NASA will be studying the total solar eclipse. Here’s how you can help

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On Monday, April 8, a total solar eclipse will be visible across a swath of North America, from Mexico’s Pacific coast to the easternmost reaches of Canada. And in those few minutes of daytime darkness, all sorts of interesting phenomena are known to occur — phenomena NASA would like our help measuring.

During a total solar eclipse, temperatures may drop and winds may slow down or change their course. Animals have been observed to behave unusually — you might hear crickets start their evening chatter a few hours early. Even radio communications can be disrupted due to changes in the ionosphere while the sun’s light is blocked. And, the sun’s corona — its outermost atmosphere — will come into view, presenting scientists (and those of us helping them) with a rare opportunity to study this layer that’s normally invisible to the naked eye.

NASA has lots of research efforts planned for the eclipse, and has sponsored a handful of citizen science campaigns that anyone can take part in if they’re in or near the path of totality, or the areas where people on the ground can watch the sun become completely obscured by the moon. The path of totality crosses 13 US states, including parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. It’s an event of some significance; the next time a total solar eclipse passes over that much of the contiguous US won’t be until 2045.

All you’ll need to join in is equipment you already own, like a smartphone, and a few minutes set aside before the eclipse to go through the training materials.

A map showing the path of totality across the United StatesA map showing the path of totality across the United States

NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio

Help measure the shape of the sun

One such citizen science project is , a concerted effort to measure the true shape of the sun. While the sun is closer to being a perfect sphere than other celestial bodies that have been observed, it’s still technically an oblate spheroid, being a smidge wider along its equator. The SunSketcher team plans to get a more precise measurement by crowd-sourcing observations of Baily’s Beads, or the little spots of sunlight that peek out from behind the moon at certain points in the eclipse.

The Baily’s Bead effect is “the last piece of the sun seen before totality and the first to appear after totality,” NASA explained in a . “For a few seconds, these glimmers of light look like beads along the moon’s edge.” They’re visible thanks to the uneven topographical features on the lunar surface.

You’ll need to download the free SunSketcher app, which is available for iOS and Android on the and . Then, a few minutes before totality (the exact time is location-dependent), put your phone on Do Not Disturb, hit “Start” in the app and prop up the phone in a place where it has a good view of the sun. After that, leave it be until the eclipse is over — the app will automatically take pictures of Baily’s Beads as they show up.

There’s a on the SunSketcher website if you want to familiarize yourself with the process beforehand. When it’s all said and done, the pictures will be uploaded to SunSketcher’s server. They’ll eventually be combined with observations from all over to “create an evolving pattern of beads” that may be able to shed better light on the size and shape of the sun.

The SunSketcher images probably won’t blow you away, so if you’re hoping to get some great pictures of the eclipse, you’ll want to have another camera on hand for that (with the appropriate filters to protect your eyes and the device’s sensors).

The Bailey's Beads  effect is seen as the moon makes its final move over the sun during the total solar eclipse on Monday, August 21, 2017 above Madras, Oregon. A total solar eclipse swept across a narrow portion of the contiguous United States from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. A partial solar eclipse was visible across the entire North American continent along with parts of South America, Africa, and Europe.  Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)The Bailey's Beads  effect is seen as the moon makes its final move over the sun during the total solar eclipse on Monday, August 21, 2017 above Madras, Oregon. A total solar eclipse swept across a narrow portion of the contiguous United States from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. A partial solar eclipse was visible across the entire North American continent along with parts of South America, Africa, and Europe.  Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA / Aubrey Gemignani

Record changes in your surroundings

Eclipse-watchers can also use their smartphones to record the environmental changes that take place when the sun dips behind the moon as part of a challenge run by Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (Globe). You’ll need an air temperature thermometer as well for this task, and can start logging observations in the days before the eclipse if you feel like being extra thorough.

Temperatures at the surface can, in some cases, drop as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit during a total solar eclipse, according to NASA. And certain types of clouds have been observed to dissipate during these brief cooldowns, resulting in unexpectedly clear skies in the moments before totality. Data collected with the help of citizen scientists during the 2017 total solar eclipse showed that experienced a less extreme drop in surface temperatures.

To participate this time around, download the Globe Observer app from the or , and then open the Globe Eclipse tool from the in-app menu. There, you’ll be able to jot down your temperature measurements and take photos of the sky to record any changes in cloud cover, and make notes about the wind conditions. Plan to dedicate a few hours to this one — NASA asks that you include observations from 1-2 hours before and after the eclipse in addition to what you’ll record during. “You will measure temperature every 5-10 minutes and clouds every 15-30 minutes or whenever you see change,” NASA says.

You can keep using the Globe Observer app for citizen science beyond eclipse day, too. There are programs running all year round for recording observations of things like clouds, land use, mosquito habitats and tree heights. The eclipse tool, though, is only available when there’s an eclipse happening.

Listen to the sounds of wildlife

Observations going back nearly 100 years have added support to the idea that total solar eclipses temporarily throw some animals out of whack. Inspired by a 1935 study that gathered observations on animal behavior during an eclipse three years prior, the is inviting members of the public to take note of what they hear before, during and after totality, and share their findings.

To be an for the project, it’s recommended that you first sign up on the website and go through the brief training materials so you can get a sense of what type of information the project is looking for. The website also has printable field notes pages you can use to record your observations on eclipse day. You should start taking notes down at least 10 minutes before totality. Only after the eclipse is over will you need to fill out the webform to submit your observations along with your latitude and longitude.

If you happen to have an AudioMoth acoustic monitoring device and a spare microSD card lying around, you can go a step further and record the actual sounds of the environment during the eclipse as a . You’ll need to set everything up early — the project says to do it on Saturday, April 6 before noon — and let it record until at least 5PM local time on April 10. At that point, you can turn it off, submit your notes online and mail in the SD card. All of the details for submission can be found on the project’s website.

A chart showing what time the eclipse will begin and end in 13 cities across the USA chart showing what time the eclipse will begin and end in 13 cities across the US

NASA

Take photos of the solar corona

The is an initiative designed to study the sun’s corona and plasma plumes from locations in the path of totality, building off of a previous campaign from the 2017 total solar eclipse. It’s already selected a team of 100 Science Team Alpha Recruits (STARs) who underwent training and were given 3D-printed tracking mounts for their cameras to shoot the best possible images. But, the project will still be accepting photo submissions from any enthusiasts who have a DSLR (and a solar filter) and want to participate.

The is pretty exhaustive, so don’t wait until eclipse day to start figuring out your setup. You’ll be able to submit your photos after the eclipse through a form on the website.

However you choose to spend the eclipse, whether you’re collecting data for a citizen science mission or just planning to kick back and observe, make sure you have everything in place well ahead of the time. While the partial eclipse phases will last over an hour, totality will be over and done in about 3.5-4.5 minutes depending on where you’re watching from. You wouldn’t want to miss out on some of that time because you were fumbling with your camera.

Totality will start shortly after 11AM local time (2PM ET) for western Mexico, moving northeastward over the subsequent two-or-so hours before exiting land near Newfoundland, Canada around 5:30PM local time. There will still be something to see for people outside the path of totality, too. Most of the US will be treated to a partial eclipse that day. You can find out exactly when the eclipse will be visible from your location with , along with the percentage of sun coverage you can expect to witness.

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How to watch and record the total eclipse on Monday

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On April 8, a solar eclipse will darken the skies. This is a rare astronomical event: The last North American total solar eclipse was on August 21, 2017, and there won’t be another on visible on the continent until 2044. The path of totality — where the sun will be fully blocked by the moon — covers over 30 million people in the US, Canada and Mexico.

Those lucky folks may see the sun’s corona and a “diamond ring” — both dramatic sights. Other regions will experience partial eclipses, with the level depending on how close you are to totality. Watching the moon eat into the sun, even a bit, is still a spectacular sight.

So, which cities and regions will experience totality, and when? What’s the weather forecast in those areas? And if you do have a clear view, how can you safely watch and record the event?

Where in the US will you experience the solar eclipse totality, and when?

How to watch (and record) the solar eclipseHow to watch (and record) the solar eclipse

The good news is that many major centers are in the 100-mile-wide band of totality, so millions of people will be able to see a full solar eclipse. It follows a northeast path, so Mexico’s Pacific coast will get the first views in Mazatlan starting at around 10:57 AM PDT (total eclipse starting at 12:07 PDT), followed by the city of Torreón (all times local).

The total eclipse moves into the United states at 12:10 PM CDT (Eagle Pass, Texas), then hits Austin, Fort Worth and Dallas — three out of five of the most populous Texas cities. From there, it moves into Little Rock, Arkansas, followed by select parts of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana (including Indianapolis).

How to watch (and record) the solar eclipseHow to watch (and record) the solar eclipse

NASA

Ohio cities Dayton, Toledo and Cleveland get the full show, followed by Erie, Pennsylvania, then Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse in New York along with Maine. Canada is in on the fun too, with parts of southern Ontario (Hamilton, Niagara Falls) and Quebec (Montreal) getting the totality, along with New Brunswick, PEI and finally, Bonavista, Labrador at 4:03 PM NDT (Newfoundland Time).

If you’re elsewhere on the continent and can’t travel, know that the closer you are to the band of totality, the more the sun will be obscured by the moon (this map shows how much of the eclipse you’ll get depending where you are on the continent).

An impressive list of major centers are within 200 miles of totality, so they’ll get a 90 percent or better eclipse (Houston, St. Louis, Memphis, Nashville, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Toronto, New York, Boston).

Anyone in the US south, midwest and northeast should get a decent spectacle, as will folks in Canada’s southeast and Atlantic coast. Even if you’re not in those regions, you might still see (and can capture) a mini eclipse.

How long with the 2024 solar eclipse last?

From the beginning when the moon first starts to cover the sun (partial eclipse) until the end when the two bodies part ways is a good long time – up to two hours and forty minutes in Dallas, and 2:18 in Caribou, Maine.

However, totality itself is brief, with the duration dependent on how close you are to the center of the totality band and the time of day. It’s at just under four minutes in Dallas, less than three minutes in Presque Island, Maine and a mere minute and 12 seconds in Montreal. As such, you’ll need to be ready and hope that the skies are clear during that brief window.

What’s the weather forecast in my area?

It’s still early for an accurate forecast, but a week is enough to get a general idea by region. Suffice to say, April isn’t the ideal month for clear skies. That said, an eclipse can still be visible through light cloud cover, and even if it’s thick, the sky will grow dramatically dark.

Unfortunately, the odds of precipitation are indeed above average across most of the band of the eclipse. Forecasts predict that the chances for clear skies are better the farther northeast you live, the opposite of historical trends.

To wit, Dallas has showers forecast throughout the day (58 percent), which would mean continuous cloud cover and no clear view if that holds. That improves a bit when you get to Indianapolis (partly cloudy, 24 percent chance of rain), with things better still in Buffalo, New York (partly cloudy, 11 percent).

Things are looking good right now in Montreal, though, with mostly sunny skies and only a 9 percent chance of rain, and the same goes for Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Niagara Falls also figures to have decent weather during the eclipse (mostly sunny, 18 percent) and is in the path of totality, which has led to the city declaring a state of emergency out of caution. Officials estimate that a million people could pour into the area, creating potentially dangerous crowds.

How can I watch the solar eclipse at home?

Staring at the sun is obviously dangerous for your vision, and doing so during an eclipse can be just as harmful. Even though you may not feel discomfort immediately, you may damage your eyes via an affliction called solar retinopathy. That can lead to serious consequences like eye pain, blind spots, blurred vision and more.

How to watch (and record) the solar eclipseHow to watch (and record) the solar eclipse

American Astronomical Society

To view it safely, you must purchase a pair of approved solar eclipse glasses based on an international safety standard called ISO 12312-2 (regular sunglasses won’t do). That dictates the maximum luminous transmittance, along with the range of permissible wavelength transmittance (UVA, UVB and infrared).

There’s certainly still time to grab a pair if you don’t have them already. The American Astronomical Society (AAS) has many recommendations for manufacturers and vendors, both online and at retail chains.

Warby Parker, for one, is offering free glasses (limit two per person while supplies last). You can also find them at Staples, Lowes and Walmart, or online at B&H and multiple science and astronomy stores.

The AAS advises against searching for the lowest price on Amazon or eBay, however, in case you get a bad knock off. “Before you buy a solar viewer or filter online, we recommend that you make sure that (1) the seller is identified on the site and (2) the seller is listed on this page,” it says on its Solar Eclipse Across America site.

How to watch the solar eclipse safely without glasses

How to watch (and record) the solar eclipseHow to watch (and record) the solar eclipse

Canadian Space Agency

It’s possible to view an eclipse without glasses via indirect means, as well. The simplest way is by punching a small round hole in a piece of thick paper or cardboard, then positioning it so the sun shines through the hole onto the ground or a flat surface (you can also attach a piece of foil with a hole, as NASA shows here). That will project an image of the Sun’s disc, letting you see the eclipse in real time.

The same pinhole principle would let you use anything with perforated holes, like a colander, projecting dozens of tiny eclipses on a surface. Trees can do the same thing, casting weird leaf shadows with little solar eclipse chunks out of them.

How to watch (and record) the solar eclipseHow to watch (and record) the solar eclipse

Benjamin Seigh/Wikimedia

For a bit better experience, you can build a crude box projector. With that, the sun shines through a hole in tin foil onto a white card, and you can look through a larger hole at the card, with the sun behind you. The Canadian Space Agency explains exactly how to make that.

Never, ever view an eclipse directly through a pair of binoculars or a telescope, as that’s a guaranteed way to damage your eyes. That said, you can use a pair of binoculars or a telescope to project the sun onto a piece of paper, as shown in this video.

How to take photos or video of the solar eclipse

Unfortunately, you can’t just point your smartphone or camera at the sun to record the eclipse, as the brightness will overwhelm the sensor and ruin the image (and possibly damage the sensor). Luckily, you can shield your camera just as you do your eyes.

The cheapest way to do that is to buy an extra set of eclipse glasses, then cut out an eyepiece from one and tape it over the smartphone (or other camera) lens. That will reduce the light levels enough to see detail in the sun throughout the partial eclipse and totality.

You can also purchase dedicated smartphone solar filters like the VisiSolar Photo Filter, which are designed for cameras and not direct viewing. Another choice is the Solar Snap Eclipse App Kit, which also offers an app that aids in photographing the eclipsed sun. It’s advisable to also wear solar glasses when setting up your smartphone or camera to protect your eyes.

If you’re shooting the eclipse with a dedicated mirrorless or DSLR camera, you’ll need either a mylar, 16-stop ND (neutral density) or hydrogen alpha solar filter. Again, do not look directly into a DSLR’s optical viewfinder at the sun if the lens doesn’t have one of those filters attached (the electronic viewfinder on a mirrorless camera is safe).

To photograph the eclipse with a smartphone, turn the flash off and put the camera into ultrawide or wide mode so it stays in frame. Do NOT look directly at the sun to line up your camera if you’re not wearing solar eclipse glasses.

Don’t use the digital zoom to try to make the eclipse bigger, as you’ll lose resolution (you can zoom in later in your photo editing app). Once focus is set on the sun, use your smartphone’s focus lock feature so that it doesn’t “hunt” for focus and blur the eclipse.

During totality, the “diamond ring” effect only lasts a split second, so use the burst mode of your camera or you’ll likely miss the shot. And try to capture RAW (rather than JPEG) images to keep the maximum detail possible for later editing. Some iPhone and Android smartphones have RAW capability built-in, if not, you can use a third-party app.

If you decide to capture video, you’ll need a filter as well, of course. But you should also use a tripod, as shooting handheld will induce blur and result in a shaky video. Even a cheap tripod will do the trick, along with a simple smartphone holder. Capture the highest resolution you can (4K or even 8K) at the highest quality possible. You’ll also capture any cheering, shouting, etc. — a precious souvenir you can look back on again and again.

More resources

There are plenty of government and private sites with more information about the eclipse, starting with the AAS’s eclipse site, detailing things like eye safety, imaging, resources and even a totality app — an “interactive map that shows what you’ll see at any location in North America for the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024.”

NASA also offers a dedicated site for the North American Eclipse, as does the National Weather Service and National Solar Observatory. A private site called Great American Eclipse is largely commercial, but does have a very useful map showing the band of totality and how much of the eclipse you’ll see depending on location, along with a comprehensive list of eclipse times and durations by city.

Update, April 5, 12:30PM ET: This story was updated after publishing to include more details about the total solar eclipse’s path of totality.

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Computers

Can You View a Round Solar Eclipse Through a Square Hole?

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If you live in the US and missed the last total solar eclipse in 2017, good news! You’re about to get another chance. There will be a total solar eclipse passing through Texas and the Midwest states on April 8. Remember that in a solar eclipse, the moon’s shadow falls on the Earth. If you’re in this shadow, it’s going to look really weird. But also awesome.

Even if you’re not in the path of totality, you can still see something. All of the continental states will get at least a partial eclipse. (Check out the map here at NASA’s eclipse page.) And do I need to tell you this? Never look at the sun without special glasses, even when it’s mostly blocked by the moon. You may still be able to get some safe solar viewers before the big event.

But there’s another way to view the solar eclipse without glasses: using a pinhole projector. It’s super simple to make and easy to use. All you need is something flat like a piece of cardboard. Then you poke a hole in it with a pin. That’s pretty much it. When light from the sun passes through the hole, it will project an image onto some flat surface (like a sidewalk).

If you did this on a normal day you’d see a circular dot of light. You might think that’s because the hole is round. But during the eclipse you will see a crescent shape caused by the moon passing in front of the sun. It’s both awesome and safe for your eyes.

Actually, you don’t even need to make a pinhole viewer—they already exist all around us. If you stand under a tree, the small spaces between the leaves will act as pinholes to project a bunch of little crescent images. Here’s a picture I took during the 2017 eclipse:

Photo showing a person near the ground look at a bunch of tiny eclipse images projected cause by the small spaces...

Images of a solar eclipse projected through the gaps in overhead leaves.

Courtesy of Rhett Allain

Fun With Pinholes

Just for fun, here’s a question for you. Most pinholes are round (because pins have cylindrical shafts). But what if you replaced the circular hole with a square one? What shape would a round sun project onto the ground? Would it be a circle? Would it be a square? Or maybe it would be a squircle! What about a triangular hole? What would happen then?

I actually have a card from PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) that demonstrates this with three holes—circular, triangular and square. Check it out.

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