{"id":711,"date":"2017-08-21T00:15:54","date_gmt":"2017-08-21T07:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/?p=711"},"modified":"2017-09-01T00:35:29","modified_gmt":"2017-09-01T07:35:29","slug":"solar-eclipse-of-monday-aug-21-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/?p=711","title":{"rendered":"2017-8-21: Solar eclipse of Monday, Aug 21, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

SOLAR\u00a0<\/strong>ECLIPSE TIME <\/strong>max\u00a0lasting\u00a0for about\u00a02min over Vancouver, to 2min 17sec as you go to Eastern BC.<\/p>\n

Here\u00a0are times for cities across BC and Alberta. There are four numbers: the local times for the start, maximum and end, and the maximum fraction of the solar diameter covered: Victoria (09:08, 10:20, 11:37, 91%), Vancouver (09:10, 10:21, 11:37, 88%), Penticton (09:13, 10:25, 11:42, 87%), Cranbrook (10:16, 11:30, 12:48, 85%),\u00a0Calgary (10:20, 11:33, 12:50, 81%), Edmonton (10:24, 11:35, 12:49, 75%).<\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.timeanddate.com\/eclipse\/in\/canada<\/p>\n

TELESCOPE<\/strong>: if you setup a telescope (with a solar filter and video camera) the Sun should be seen\u00a0safely\u00a0on a video display. \u00a0We may see sunspots\u00a0at the centre of the disc, even though\u00a0the Sun is nearing sunspot minimum.<\/p>\n

SPEED OF THE MOON’S SHADOW<\/strong>: \u00a0If it’s hazy with forest fire smoke, try going 7000 feet up a mountain to get clearer views. \u00a0From a mountain\u00a0top, I wonder if\u00a0I’ll\u00a0be able to see the shadow of the Moon sweeping in from the West? \u00a0Over Eastern BC, It’s approaching at around\u00a03,000 km\/h;\u00a0or 0.833 km\/s. \u00a0That’s 2.5x the speed of sound, so a military jet could keep up with it, but a car can’t. \u00a0The totality\u00a0shadow\u00a0will be about 109km wide, and\u00a0take just over 2 minutes to pass. \u00a0Source:\u00a0https:\/\/www.space.com\/36388-total-solar-eclipse-2017-duration.html<\/a>\u200b<\/p>\n

PATH OF TOTALITY<\/strong>: The Map of totality below\u00a0shows you\u2019ll have to go 500 km South of the US border to Salem, Oregon or to Idaho Falls in Idaho to get the full effect.<\/p>\n

\"\"Map by Xavier Jubier. \u00a0http:\\\\xjubier.free.fr\/en\/site_pages\/SolarEclipsesGoogleMaps<\/a><\/p>\n

ECLIPSE GLASSES<\/strong>: \u00a0So, where to get adequate eyewear, sunglasses won\u2019t do!\u00a0 You can send away for cardboard eclipse glasses (mine haven\u2019t arrived yet), but be sure they are very dark, like shade 14.\u00a0 Try getting some welders replacement lenses; again, shade 14 is safest.\u00a0 \u00a0They are rectangular glass plates, about 4\u201d x3\u201d x2\u201d.\u00a0 They should be available locally at Air Liquide, or Acklands, or other welders supply place (unless they\u00a0are already all\u00a0sold out).
\n\u201cEYESIGHT\u00a0WARNING<\/strong>: When you look at the Sun, the lens in your eyeball acts as a burning glass, and the target is the back of your eye, where imaging happens. You can also damage the protein jelly, or \u201caqueous humour\u201d that fills your eyeball. The damage can be permanent. Staring at the Sun using a telesc\u200bope or binoculars that have not been modified for solar observing could likewise lead to permanent damage. A pair of 10×50 binoculars (10 times magnification, 50mm objective lenses), will collect between 50 and 100 times the amount of light and heat that your eye lens will collect. Permanent damage will be near instantaneous. There is specialist hardware that can be used with telescopes and binoculars that make them usable for safe solar observing. However, unless you are completely familiar with these devices and how to use them\u2026 DON\u2019T. If you are not an expert then go find one.\u201d\u00a0 Quote from Ken Tapping, astronomer at Penticton, BC<\/em>.<\/p>\n

SOLAR\u00a0PROJECTION<\/strong>: (adults only please) using a spotting scope or binoculars (or a magnifying glass). \u00a0Set it up on a tripod, and focus the telescope at infinity (a mountain first). \u00a0Then hold\u00a0a white square of cardboard about a\u00a0foot\u00a0away from the eyepiece, or against a white wall (some telescopes come with a little arm and clip for this purpose). \u00a0The cardboard should be in a shadowed area. \u00a0Be careful not to look through the eyepiece of the\u00a0scope (or the finderscope!)–just look at the shadow of the scope on the ground\u00a0to point\u00a0it at\u00a0the Sun.\u00a0 Centre the image of the Sun on the white card. \u00a0Move the cardboard close for a smaller\/brighter image; and further away for a bigger\/dimmer image. That way you get enough\u00a0magnification to\u00a0see sunspots too. (Galileo pioneered this projection\u00a0technique back in 1612. \u00a0He didn’t go blind until he was 72, and that was from cataracts.)<\/p>\n

FIRE AND BLINDING DANGER:\u00a0Don’t hold the cardboard too close or you’ll burn a hole through it. \u00a0Don’t try to look through the eyepiece, \u00a0or you’ll burn a hole in your eye’s\u00a0retina. \u00a0Don’t goof-up or you’re permanently blind. \u00a0Watch out for kids around you. \u00a0Don’t leave unattended. \u00a0Don’t burn your finger or start a fire! \u00a0(That said, I did this in grade 11 astronomy class and nobody had any trouble.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SOLAR\u00a0ECLIPSE TIME max\u00a0lasting\u00a0for about\u00a02min over Vancouver, to 2min 17sec as you go to Eastern BC. Here\u00a0are times for cities across BC and Alberta. There are four numbers: the local times for the start, maximum and end, and the maximum fraction of the solar diameter covered: Victoria (09:08, 10:20, 11:37, 91%), Vancouver (09:10, 10:21, 11:37, 88%), … Continue reading “2017-8-21: Solar eclipse of Monday, Aug 21, 2017”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meteor-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=711"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":718,"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711\/revisions\/718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcmeteors.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}