SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — On October 14 at 11:50 a.m., the moon will begin to pass in front of the sun, drawing a shadow on the earth’s surface. While it will not be a total eclipse, we will still see a partial eclipse with 50% of the sun covered by the moon. You will need solar eclipse glasses to see it as, believe it or not, staring at the sun can damage your eyes, even in a solar eclipse.
The moon will not cover all of the sun, leading to us looking at more of the sun’s rays during this eclipse. Do NOT look directly at the sun unless you have specialized eye protection. SUNGLASSES WILL NOT GIVE YOU ENOUGH SUN PROTECTION – DO NOT USE SUNGLASSES. No matter how dark your sunglasses are, they are not protection.
And do NOT look at the sun through any camera lens, binoculars, or telescope without a solar filter. This also includes your smartphone camera. By watching a solar eclipse through your smartphone camera, you could accidentally look at the sun for a longer set of time when setting your phone up.
How to make your own solar eclipse projector
If you have or want to get solar eclipse glasses or viewers, NASA says to make sure it matches with the ISO 12312-2 international standard. Also, make sure they are not scratched or broken. Do not use them if they are. If you don’t have eclipse viewers, let’s make a projector!
You won’t actually be facing the sun. You’ll have your back to the sun and you’ll be looking away from the eclipse. While that might be slightly disappointing, this easy eclipse projector won’t be!
What you will need:
- 2 white paper plates or white stiff cardboard (you can use regular white paper but it will be flimsy)
- A thumbtack, sharp pin, or needle
- A chair or something to tape one of the paper plates/cardboard/white paper
- Tape
- …and that’s it!
Instructions
- Take one of the white paper plates or stiff cardboard and use the thumbtack to punch a small hole in it.
- As the eclipse starts, stand with your back towards the sun.
- Hold the piece of paper with a hole in it above your head or on your shoulder so the sun can shine through the punched hole.
- Use the second piece of paper as a screen. Hold this piece of paper away from the other one so the sun’s light passes through.
- To make the sun larger, move the second piece of paper further away from the one above your shoulder or tape it to something to hold it up.
It might take some adjusting to find the sun – but luckily you have time! The partial eclipse begins at 11:50 am with our peak eclipse occurring at 1:20 pm. This is when 50% of the sun will be covered by the moon.
