Total Solar Eclipse Could Prove the Sun Is Bigger Than We Think

Teachers at Henderson County Schools are preparing for the August 21 total solar eclipse.

Eclipses could happen every month if the moon’s orbit around the earth was perfectly elliptical, but it’s not.

“The U.S. only covers 2% of the globe, so we get very few eclipses”, Matthew Penn, an astronomer with the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, told CBS News. The eclipse will be visible in totality only within a band across the entire contiguous United States, including parts of Oregon. “After this experiment flies, we will have about 10 times more samples to analyze than all previously flown stratosphere microbiology missions combined”.

“We’re trying to educate teachers that this is not a one shot event”, said Sabrina Edmondson, who used to be a teacher, but now works for NASA.”This is something they can take throughout the year and grow on it”. The eclipse will reach its maximum in Billings at 11:39 a.m. and will end at 1:02 p.m.

During a total solar eclipse, the moon completely blocks the sun, allowing the sun’s corona to be seen in stark contrast to the surrounding darkness.

The rest of the continental United States will witness a partial solar eclipse.

Jubier said that flash spectrum measurements would be most useful, but so would (safely!) unfiltered views of the eclipse.

You won’t turn to stone but you could harm your eyes, because the sun’s bright light puts too much stimulation on the retina, causing a condition known as solar retinopathy, a condition that literally burns the retina through chemical reactions.

Miller explained that the sun is about 400 times larger than the Earth’s moon, and about 400 times further away. The less frequent lunar eclipses, however, are visible from over half the earth.

On Saturday, July 29, Lowe-Volk Park will be hosting a Solar Eclipse Safety Program at 8 p.m.

If obtaining eclipse glasses is not an option, a simple pin-hole camera can be constructed, to project an image of the eclipse onto the ground or a wall.

South Carolina Total Eclipse Weekend, August 18-21, Columbia This capital city will host more than 100 festivals and events for the thousands of locals and people expected to travel here to view the eclipse.