Skip to main content

Solar Eclipse Countdown Day 4: Eclipse Safety

 Today’s topic is: Eclipse Safety.


You know not to look at the sun, right? 


This is even more important during an eclipse. The overall light is decreased, so your pupils will dilate to let in more light. However, since the actual intensity of the sun is undiminished, you will damage your retina even quicker. The retina does not contain pain receptors, so you won’t necessarily feel anything as you destroy your ability to see. It’s called solar retinopathy and there is no cure for severe cases. 


Now that you’ve been sufficiently warned, there are ways to watch the eclipse safely.


Ways to safely observe the sun:

  • Binoculars/telescope with a solar filter (we’ll have the school’s 8 inch refractor on the field, if it’s not raining)

  • Eclipse Glasses* (we have enough for all students and faculty/staff. They’re selling out through other sources, but you might be able to find some online, HEB, or Sonic. Prices are going up, so watch out for scalpers and imitations)




Safe direct viewing on Monday:

When viewing the sun during an eclipse:

  • Keep your solar viewing glasses on until you can see absolutely nothing.

  • Take off your glasses and enjoy the view

  • As soon as you see the merest sliver of the sun returning, immediately put your glasses back on.

  • And of course, follow any directions given to you by a trained science teacher


Driving during the eclipse:

Avoid this if at all possible. There are fears that other drivers will be pulling off on the side of the road or just stopping in the middle of the road to watch (I saw something similar during 4th of July fireworks in Washington DC a few years ago).


The metro area is expecting a lot of traffic due to the visitors, so factor in extra time to get where you are going.


More tips:

If you have 20 minutes (or 10 minutes if you put it on 2x speed), Patricia Reiff from Rice has a great video about eclipse safety.



*You can technically use these to look at the sun anytime, not just during an eclipse. Make sure that you get the right thing (ISO 12312-2). Sunglasses are not good enough! Here’s a new article about how they work.


Countdown:

  • 3 Days to Eclipse

  • Eclipse Start: 12:17 

  • Totality Start: 1:35

  • Totality End: 1:39

  • Eclipse End: 2:58

  • These are estimated times here at school. Check your exact times for your location here.

Current Forecast: Guys, I watched several weather reports this morning and the meteorologists are not optimistic. There will almost certainly be high clouds. That’s not too bad; we should be able to see through those. However, there’s a very good chance of low clouds that would completely block the direct view of the sun. On the plus side, it looks like we’ll get a nice amount of rain next week. Here’s a nice map with predicted visibility based on the weather forecast.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Issues with Harry Potter: Part 4 - The Education System

Okay, maybe it's because I'm not British, but the education system in the Wizarding world makes very little sense to me (a teacher). Granted, the American system doesn't make sense to much of the rest of the world. Here in the US, we don't have college entrance exams, so I won't criticize things like OWLs or NEWTs. However, I am going to have to criticize the entire theory of education. Primary Schooling A Hogwarts letter arrives on a student's 11th birthday (sort of). What are the options for students before they are 11? Rowling says that they may either go to public schools or they are home schooled. It sure seems like most magical parents choose the latter option (most wizards know nothing of the Muggle world, which should not be the case if they attended public school for 6 years). Here we run into our first problem. What exactly are these children being taught? In the US (and from what I can tell, the UK), parents are not required to fol...
Post a Comment
Read more

Analyzing Goertz Memes

 I often find myself on the Savio meme pages. Let's take a look at a few: 1. Handbooks I do read it quite a bit. We do some massive updating each summer. 2. Airpods I'm an Android user myself. I do think of the Airpod memes everything students walk past me wearing their earbuds (against the handbook, by the way). 3. Caaaw! Dr. Garcia started the noise. I don't do it as well. 4. Let it Go Well, yes. I was the one with the microphone and tiara. 5. Blue Shirt/Gold Tie Thank you. I think I look pretty good as well. 6. Saturated Because one time I said that the grass was saturated with rainwater. 7. Lunch There's a lot of lunch memes about me. Yes, I walk up and join conversations. I'm a socially awkward person, but it's allowed when you are an administrator. 8. Doors If you go through the wrong doors, I will find you and I will stop you. 9. History I don't know. Also, apparently my name no longer has a Z. Alright! First post in years.
Post a Comment
Read more

Turning 40

I just turned 40. I am old now. I've always said that age is just a number, but as I approached my birthday earlier this month, I began to feel it.  My left foot (always tricky) started aching more.  I got a weird ganglion cyst (benign) that I didn't even know was possible. I remember my parents' 40th birthday parties. They  were  old. So, logically I must be old too.   I got really into genealogy over the Christmas break*. They used to call being 40 "over the hill". This implies that your life is halfway over and it's just coasting from here (remains to be seen). In my nostalgic mood, here are a few things that I have learned through the wisdom of old age: Politeness pays. It's one of the things that people outside of the South admire about us. Family is really important, although you won't always be friends (Chesterton has some wonderful thoughts on this. Read Heretics , Chapter 14 ). I have found that my relationship with various family members have...
Post a Comment
Read more