Solar Eclipse on Christmas! (PLEASE DON'T LOOK AT IT!)

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GoFuckYourselves!
#1 Asylum Dumbfuck!

Registered: Oct 2000
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Solar Eclipse on Christmas! (PLEASE DON'T LOOK AT IT!)

The moon's shadow will appear to take a Christmas Day bite out of the sun on Monday, giving Americans a rare look at a partial solar eclipse.

The partial eclipse will be visible over most of the continental U.S., with the best view in the Northeast where about half of the solar disk will be obscured by the moon. People in Hawaii or Alaska won't be able to see it.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is positioned between the sun and the Earth. This casts a lunar shadow on the Earth's surface and obscures the solar disk.

Only part of the sun's sphere will be covered on Christmas. No place on Earth will see a total eclipse on Monday. The sun will be most obscured when viewed from Baffin Island, Canada, where 72 percent of the solar disk will be covered.

During a total eclipse, the moon's dark inner shadow, called the umbra, strikes the Earth. During a partial eclipse, only the fainter outer shadow, called the penumbra, strikes the Earth. The Christmas Day partial eclipse results when only the penumbra sweeps across America.

A full solar eclipse can cause brief, localized darkness, but there is expected to be only a slight dimming of sunlight at maximum eclipse points in the Northeast on Monday. Daylight will not be significantly affected in the rest of the country.

At the eclipse maximum in the Northeast, the solar disk will resemble a cookie with a hearty bite removed.

The American Optometric Association warns skywatchers to not look directly at the spectacle.

``Looking at a solar eclipse without proper protection can result in serious eye damage,'' the association warns in a statement. To view the eclipse, the experts recommend special equipment, such as a welder's lens, a pinhole projector, or other indirect viewing equipment.

The partial eclipse occurs after midday in the East and shortly after dawn in the far West, according to calculations by the editors of Sky & Telescope magazine.

In New York City, the eclipse begins at 11:09 a.m. EST, reaches its maximum at 12:47 p.m., and ends at 2:21 p.m. About 44 percent of the sun will be obscured and daylight intensity will dip slightly.

In Chicago, the eclipse begins at 9:45 a.m. CST and reaches its maximum when 43 percent of the solar disk is obscured at 11:17 a.m. CST. By 12:53 p.m., it is over.

The partial eclipse starts at 8:29 a.m. MST in Denver and reaches its maximum, when 27 percent of the solar disk is covered, at 9:44 a.m. It ends there at 11:06 a.m.

In Los Angeles, the partial eclipse begins at 7:37 a.m. PST, reaches its maximum of 7 percent at 8:23 a.m. PST and is over 50 minutes later. Farther north, more of the sun is covered. In Seattle, 25 percent of the solar sphere will be obscured at 8:29 a.m. PST.

Fred Espenak, a NASA (news - web sites) astrophysicist, urged people to resist the impulse to look directly at the sun during the eclipse.

``Since solar eclipses are a rare occurrence, human curiosity impels some people to stare directly at the sun,'' he said in a statement. ``This can cause permanent damage to your eyesight.''

A special eclipse lens, called No. 14 welder's glass, can be purchased at welding supply stores. Some science equipment stores offer safe eclipse viewing glasses.

Sky & Telescope says a homemade device, called a pinhole projector, is one of the simplest ways to view the eclipse. Take two index cards and poke a round hole in one. Hold the punctured card with the flat side toward the sun. Put the other card several feet behind and below the first card. A small, inverted image of the sun will project onto the second card.

The optometric association warns that viewers should NOT use sunglasses, smoked glass, polarizing filters, or photo or X-ray film to look at the sun. None provide sufficient protection.

[This message has been edited by GoFuckYourselves! (edited 12-24-2000).]