August 18, 2017
‘Be sure to look around you’: Tips on Seattle eclipse viewing
A fingernail-like edge of the sun will be visible in Seattle during the solar eclipse.Owen Fuller/Flickr
With less than a week to go before the Pacific Northwest experiences its first total solar eclipse in decades, many in Seattle are wondering what it will be like in our city, where the moon will cover about 92 percent of the sun’s surface. Bruce Balick, UW professor emeritus of astronomy, shared a few thoughts that he’s written for the upcoming event.
What will happen next Monday?
Everyone will notice how dark the sky becomes starting at about 9:45 a.m. — it reaches its maximum at 10:22 a.m. You and everyone else will be tempted to run outside to observe the eclipse.
Whatever you do, don’t look up — at least not unless you are wearing certified-safe protection or taking proper precautions.
There is no safe time to stare at the exposed surface of the sun. Ever. It will be very tempting but highly dangerous to take a peek at any time without a safe means (see below). Never — never — view the partial eclipse through binoculars or a telescope.
What’s the danger? If you have ever fried bugs with a magnifying glass then you can imagine the damage to your retina if you look at any part of the sun directly. The eclipse simply isn’t worth a permanent blind spot.
A tree through which speckles of sunshine reach the ground or a flat wall can be a cool way of viewing. Watch the speckles turn into crescents as the event unfolds.David Prasad/Flickr
What to expect in Seattle:
The sun will appear as a shining fingernail when the eclipse is at its maximum (95 percent).
Be sure to look around you during maximum eclipse. The birds will roost as the sky darkens, sleep for a few moments, and then get up and start their next day. The horizon will glow all around you, roughly like sunset. You may attempt a brief yawn yourself.
The eclipse will fantastic in Seattle (as opposed to outrageously eerie in central Oregon). It is also a rare event: The next total eclipse in Seattle will be April 23, 2563, at 5:44 p.m. Don’t wait for that event — enjoy this one.
Deep darkness lasts only a few moments. Mars (white-orange) will be visible about one fist above the sun. Venus will be easily visible 60 degrees above the southern horizon. You may also see some winter constellations if the skies aren’t hazy. Sirius the Dog Star and the belt stars of Orion will lie above the southern horizon.
Another way of viewing is to use your fingers or a paper plate with small holes poked in it to form speckles.Phil King/Flickr
Where to look:
The Sun will be where it always is at 10:22 a.m. — in the east southeast (to the upper left of Mt. Rainier from most parts of Seattle).
How to look:
Safe eclipse glasses are required to look directly at the sun. However, the dim view isn’t a very “wow” experience. There are other safe and far more memorable ways to see the event.
A leafy tree (particularly oak, cherry, plum) will work for forming a “constellation” of eclipse images on the ground or a wall (makes really cool photos!) Find any tree through which speckles of sunshine reach the ground or a flat wall. They’re easy to find on campus. Watch the speckles turn into crescents as the event unfolds. (It’s a kick use the back of someone’s shirt as a viewing screen instead of a sidewalk.)
Alternately, you can use your fingers or a paper plate with small holes poked in it to form speckles.
Or look into a long box with a pinhole at the upper end and a sheet of white paper at the opposite end. Use a thick nail to form a clean pinhole. If you have the time, spray paint the box interior black and tape a sheet of clean white paper inside the box at the opposite end of the box from the pinhole.
Or look into a long box with a pinhole at the upper end and a sheet of white paper at the opposite end. Use a thick nail to form a clean pinhole.NASA/YouTube.com
Young kids will get a kick out of this pinhole camera. Two thick sheets of paper that form the equivalent of the ends of the box will work just fine, but the box is far easier to manipulate.
A few eclipse-related questions and answers:
- How fast does the eclipse shadow move? 2250 miles per hour.
- How wide is the path? About 70 miles.
- When was the previous solar eclipse in the U.S.? On Feb 26 1979. It passed over Portland, Yakima, Montana, central Canada, and Greenland.
- When and where is the next one in the U.S.? April 28 2024; its path runs from Texas to Maine.
- How frequent are total solar eclipses? There are 21 between July 1971 and July 2047, occurring about once every three and a half years, somewhere in the world.
- When is the last-ever total solar eclipse? In about half a billion years.
- Why is that? Because the moon is steadily receding from the Earth by 2.2 inches per year. Eventually it will no longer fully cover the disk of the sun.
A note on eclipse photography: Obsessing about camera settings during the height of an eclipse is the best way to distract yourself from this brief event.
Spend 90 percent of your time enjoying the eclipse and the strange, ephemeral world that you see around you.
Plan to take just one or two quick pictures, each with a horse, a fence, a lake, a tree, or a friend in the frame. (Use your flash.) This makes for very dramatic and memorable pictures. It helps to set your camera or mobile phone to HDR (if your camera has such a setting).
Put a person or the top of an iconic building in the eclipse picture for scale. (e.g., Red Square, the Quad, or the perimeter of the Hub lawn).
- Watch a NASA video:” “How to View an Eclipse with a Cereal Box.”
