This August, an unprecedented number of people will observe the Total Solar Eclipse. The last time the United States observed totality was on March 7, 1970, and it was only visible from a few states on the East Coast. Millions of people live in the path of totality of this year’s eclipse, and the entire […]
Tag: Solar Astronomy
100 Days Until Totality! 48 Days Left – How to Make a Pinhole Camera
Pinhole cameras are an easy and accessible way to view a solar eclipse. They are especially useful for young children or others who may not be able to look through a special solar telescope or solar eclipse glasses. Pinhole cameras are simple devices that use the properties of light to create a perfectly in focus […]
100 Days Until Totality! 49 Days Left – The Google Megamovie Project
Google is undertaking a large citizen science project for the Great American Eclipse of 2017. The goal is to obtain photos from many different locations along the path of totality. The goal is to study the Sun’s corona in great detail. The corona is still not fully understood and most of our observations of it […]
50 Days to Totality Podcast
Last week’s show was about eclipses of the late twentieth century, Einstein’s greatest discovery, and the science behind solar eclipse safety.
100 Days Until Totality! 51 Days Left – Photography Part 2: Technical Information
Photographing an eclipse can be a tricky task. The brightness of the event requires careful choice of exposure times and a special solar filter to protect your camera from damage. If you are lucky enough to be experiencing totality you will be able to capture a picture of the Sun’s corona. The corona is very […]
100 Days Until Totality! 52 Days Left – Photography Part 1: To Watch or to Shoot?
Over the next three days we’ll be doing a three part series on photographing the Solar Eclipse! Even for the experienced photographer, shooting a Total Solar Eclipse is a challenge. It takes months of practicing and perfecting the steps to make sure you get the perfect shot. If you’ve never experienced a Total Solar Eclipse […]
100 Days Until Totality! 53 Days Left – Protecting Your Telescope and Your Camera
Thinking about photographing the eclipse, or possibly observing it with a telescope? You probably already have enough gear to get some decent photos! The most important new piece of equipment you’re going to need to buy is a solar filter. Solar filters are absolutely necessary for solar photography and solar astronomy. Without a filter to […]
100 Days Until Totality! 54 Days Left – Protecting Your Eyes
We’ve all been told by our parents to never look directly at the Sun. But why? What is it about the Sun that damages our eyes so much? To answer that question, first we need to talk about the electromagnetic spectrum. The light that our eyes can see is referred to as visible radiation. Different […]
57 Days to Totality Podcast
This past weeks show was about more eclipses in modern history with a special focus on the last eclipse to pass through Wyoming and Colorado in 1878.
100 Days Until Totality! 57 Days Left – A Summary of North American Total Solar Eclipses of the 20th Century
On June 8, 1918 a total solar eclipse was seen from coast to coast. The path of totality went from Washington to Florida. Until the eclipse this year this will have been the most recent eclipse that went from one side of the country to the other. A total solar eclipse occurred over southwestern California […]
100 Days Until Totality! 60 Days Left – The Last Great Wyoming Eclipse: Part 2
The total solar eclipse of 1878 also brought the first professional female astronomer out west, Maria Mitchell. Maria grew up learning astronomy from her father and helped him calculate the exact time of an annular eclipse when she was only 12 years old. Maria’s first solo accomplishment was the discovery of a comet at the […]
100 Days Until Totality! 62 Days Left – The Discovery of Helium
In 1868 French astronomer Pierre-Jules-César Janssen was studying a total solar eclipse in India with a device called a spectrograph. A spectrograph is used to figure out what something is made out of based off of the colors of light it gives off. The spectrograph uses a prism to split a beam of light into […]
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