Astronomer at USC program advises eclipse enthusiasts to stay safe
Make sure solar viewers meet the requirement for ISO 12312-2:2015.
Viewing the eclipse through a pinhole projector
Hey, it’s the astronomical event of a lifetime, and some of the best places to experience the Aug. 21 eclipse of the sun aren’t all that far from Pittsburgh.
“If you’re thinking, gosh, I could be in Tennessee or Kentucky in five hours, and you’re thinking about driving there: Give it some careful thought,” Kathy DeSantis cautioned her Upper St. Clair audience.
The vice president of the Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh proceeded to draw comparisons to another much-anticipated event in the sort-of-distant past.
“How many of you have heard of Woodstock?” she said about the iconic, if overcrowded and undersupplied, 1969 music festival. “How many of you are glad that you didn’t go to Woodstock?”
As for folks who want to be in a prime spot to see the sky go black during the continental United States’ first total solar eclipse since 1979.
“A lot of small towns that only have a population of about 500 people are taking reservations for 5,000. And they’re now saying the sewer systems will fail, that gas stations will run out of gas.”
Upper St. Clair Township Public Library was taking reservations for DeSantis’ Aug. 9 program about the eclipse, and because of overwhelming interest, the venue was moved to the nearby McLaughlin Run Activity Center to accommodate more people. They learned about what will occur in the “path of totality,” which stretches for Oregon to South Carolina and above which the moon will obscure the sun completely, for a maximum of two minutes, 40 seconds in Hopkinsville, Ky.
They also learned that the Pittsburgh area won’t fare too badly in the solar scheme of things. At 2:35 p.m., 84 percent of the sun’s rays will be blocked from what shouldn’t be in your vision.
No, DeSantis reiterated, under no circumstances look directly at the marvel of nature.
“You will burn the image that you see into your retina,” the Monongahela resident said. “The doctor would be able to tell at which point during the eclipse you stared at the sun, because that is the image that would be burned. And it would really, really hurt a lot.”
To be safe, she strongly recommended using special eclipse-viewing eyewear, “from a reputable source,” like the ones that were distributed at the Upper St. Clair program. No. 14 welder’s glasses, the really heavy-duty ones, also provide sufficient protection.
Or if you have a spare box and a modicum of creativity, you can make a simple, but effective, pinhole camera.
“You don’t have to do any special measurements,” DeSantis explained. “You just need to make a pinhole to act as the lens. You can put a pinhole through a piece of cardboard, but you get a better image if you have a sharp edge.
“So if you take a piece of aluminum foil,” the Monongahela resident continued, “and you use any kind of a pin and pierce it, you get a nice, sharp edge. Then you make a hole that you can look through, and the back of the box acts as the projector screen. If you want to be a little fancy, you can take a piece of white paper and tape it on the inside.”
And then you might want to save your pinhole for the next astronomical event of a lifetime: another total solar eclipse on the afternoon of April 8, 2024, with the sky going black above such familiar cities as Erie and Cleveland.
Start making your reservations now.
Upper St. Clair Township Library and Mt. Lebanon Public Library are hosting programs during the eclipse, both from 1 to 4 p.m. Aug. 21. In advance of the eclipse, South Fayette Township Library hosts Bill Roemer, former director of Mingo Creek Park Observatory, at 10 a.m. Aug. 19 in a program for all ages at the South Fayette Senior Center.