Ordos Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 On Wednesday there will be a solar eclipse over Indonesia. Where I live it might only be partial or obscured by cloud cover. I hope not. I've seen lunar eclipses before. But this is my first solar eclipse. I don't have any special lens to look at it. Is it safe to look when the eclipse is total? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 It is safe to look ONLY when it is total. Make a pinhole camera for observing the eclipse up until then if you want to watch it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 There are a kind of protective "goggles" that have some sort of aluminum foil instead of glass. When there was an eclipse in Germany in 98 or 99 these were distributed widely. Back then it was explicitly warned to use homemade devices like a soot-blackened pane of glass or so. Not sure if one can build something with standard aluminum foil or whether this was a different special foil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edda van Heefmstra Ruston Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 You can check whether it will be partial or total where you are with this map: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2016Mar09Tgoogle.html As mentioned, if it's not genuinely total, it's not safe to look at. NASA also has more guidelines here: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/safety.html Honestly, if you can, I would recommend looking up local astronomy clubs that might have viewing parties set up. They may have some of the camera lenses / welder's glass / solar mylar that make it safe to observe. If nothing else, a pinhole camera is a great way of watching the eclipse's progress before & after totality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ordos Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 Thanks for that map. It's only partial. A little over 97% where I am. It gets more total the further south I go. Perhaps I'll take a road trip to the southern coast where it is 98%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HairBearHero Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 In Bali for this. Will need to rig up some sort of pinhole. Gutted I didn't know about it a few days earlier when I could have bought a solar filter for my camera Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ordos Posted March 9, 2016 Author Share Posted March 9, 2016 I'm just back from watching the eclipse. I had to cat herd my family into the car. We improvised by taking turns looking through stacked lenses of sunglasses and never more than two seconds at a time to be safe. Wow that was a weird chill interrupting the mid morning heat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balvinder Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 share solar eclipse picture if you have... i miss it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gertrude Posted March 9, 2016 Share Posted March 9, 2016 I remember my first solar eclipse because I didn't know about it beforehand. I was biking through the woods because it was nice and cool for a summer day rather than scorching. I began noticing that the light coming through the trees was making little crescent shapes on the ground and put it together. I was pretty blown away, I think mainly because it was a discovery rather than anticipated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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