https://maineeclipse.com/2024 Total Solar Eclipseen-UShttps://maineeclipse.com/the-countdown-is-on/https://maineeclipse.com/the-countdown-is-on/Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:09:29 GMT*Information about the 2024 total eclipse provided by eclipse2024.org* Houlton, ME Prepares for Total Solar Eclipse In less than 50 days, the quaint town of Houlton, Maine, will play host to a spectacular celestial event: a total solar eclipse. As anticipation builds within the community, preparations are underway to welcome visitors from far and wide who seek to witness this awe-inspiring phenomenon. The excitement is palpable as locals gear up to showcase their hospitality and charm. A flurry of events is being meticulously planned and added to the community event calendar, which is being curated by WHOU 100.1 fm, our Official Maine Eclipse radio station. Whether it’s stargazing parties, educational workshops, or live music performances, there will be something for everyone to enjoy leading up to and during the eclipse. For those tuning in from out of town, WHOU 100.1fm will be the go-to source for constant updates on what’s happening, traffic conditions, and critical information. Their comprehensive coverage will ensure that visitors are well-informed and can make the most of their eclipse experience. As the countdown to the celestial spectacle draws nearer, the town is eagerly awaiting the lau0nch of the Maine Eclipse app at the end of February. This innovative app will revolutionize the eclipse experience for visitors, providing a countdown accurate to the second based on GPS coordinates. With the ability to receive alerts, visitors will know precisely when it’s safe to remove their protective glasses and when to put them back on. But the Maine Eclipse app offers more than just countdowns and safety alerts. It will also serve as a valuable resource, offering information on potential parking locations, details about Star Parks, and a comprehensive listing of events happening in and around Houlton. Visitors can stay up to date on important alerts by subscribing to push notifications, ensuring a seamless and informed eclipse experience. Recognizing the potential strain on cell phone towers due to the influx of visitors, Pioneer Broadband has stepped up to the plate. They have generously implemented a plan to create hotspots at designated Star Parks, providing free WiFi access to help visitors stay connected during their visit. This thoughtful initiative ensures that visitors can share their eclipse experiences with friends and family in real-time without worrying about connectivity issues. With less than 50 days to go, Houlton, Maine, is abuzz with excitement as it prepares to welcome visitors for the total solar eclipse. From the diverse array of events to the cutting-edge Maine Eclipse app and the thoughtful provision of free WiFi access, every detail has been carefully considered to ensure that visitors have an unforgettable and seamless eclipse experience. So mark your calendars, pack your protective glasses, and get ready to witness a celestial wonder in the charming town of Houlton.https://maineeclipse.com/eclipse-photography/https://maineeclipse.com/eclipse-photography/Fri, 23 Dec 2022 16:26:32 GMT*Information about the 2024 total eclipse provided by eclipse2024.org* Taking photos of the eclipse, such as the one below, require hundreds of pictures to be taken within the space of only a couple of minutes – and then literally hundreds of hours of post-processing with the computer in order to achieve this spectacular, world-class result. Total Solar Eclipse 2008 | © 2008 Miloslav Druckmüller, Peter Aniol, Vojtech Rušin Remember that when you set up your equipment, you have to ensure that there is never any chance that anyone could possibly look through an unfiltered camera lens at the Sun! If you’re uncomfortable in any way with the technical aspects of filters, f-stops, and quirks of more advanced photography, best to leave this area to the pros, and concentrate yourself on enjoying the visuals of the eclipse. Burn images into your brain that will be better than photos, and will last the rest of your life! REMEMBER TO USE YOUR SOLAR FILTERS while the eclipse is NOT total, and DON’T use filters while the eclipse IS total.  DURING TOTALITY ONLY, it is perfectly safe to look directly at the FULLY eclipsed Sun! If you do not have proper filters for your camera equipment, then DO NOT attempt to take pictures of the eclipse! Your camera’s lens, much like your eyes, needs proper protection. Otherwise, you will damage your camera – whether you are using your phone or a professional camera. Even after having read all the above, we realize most of you will want to try to take a picture of what you’re seeing – eclipses are just that cool! So that you know, here is a sample of what a typical point-and-shoot picture of an eclipse will look like: We know, it isn’t very exciting. We told you so. But please, if you’re going to take pictures like this, at least have the courtesy to turn your flash off. Every camera and phone has a way to do this, and they’re all pretty similar. Make sure you know how to turn yours off. Or, you can simply bypass all of this and use our old friend, electrical tape! So, how do you get better pictures? Well, you gotta have a long lens or telescope. Then, you have to have a way to connect your camera to it. You also need a good, stable tripod with a head that can be tilted to be able to point up at the Sun (some cannot, as most camera tripod manufacturers don’t account for the possibility that their customers will want to point a camera up at the sky!), and you need a cable release to fire your shutter. Plus, you need to have the right exposure settings to capture what you’re interested in: outer corona, inner corona, chromosphere, earthshine, prominences, Baily’s Beads – they all have different exposure settings that work best. This is a picture of what we would consider the minimum setup: AND DON’T FORGET THAT YOU HAVE TO HAVE A CERTIFIED SOLAR FILTER TO PLACE OVER THE FRONT OF YOUR LENS! This is only for the times that the Sun is NOT in total eclipse, but it CANNOT be neglected or ignored! Whether or not you decide to take photos during the eclipse, we hope you get to enjoy the limited time we have in the shadow and are able to make the most out of this incredible event!https://maineeclipse.com/eight-seconds-an-essay-about-totality/https://maineeclipse.com/eight-seconds-an-essay-about-totality/Thu, 22 Dec 2022 19:04:39 GMT*Information about the 2024 total eclipse provided by eclipse2024.org* *Information about the 2024 total eclipse provided by eclipse2024.org* How long does a total eclipse last? According to Sperling’s “8-Second Law”, ALL Total Solar Eclipses Last 8 Seconds! ©1980 Norman Sperling.Excerpted from What Your Astronomy Textbook Won’t Tell You, 0-913399-04-3.First published in Astronomy magazine, vol. 8, no. 8, August 1980, 24-25. Everyone who sees a total solar eclipse remembers it forever. It overwhelms the senses … and the soul as well – the curdling doom of the onrushing umbra, the otherworldly pink prominences, the ethereal pearly corona. And, incredibly soon, totality terminates. Then it hits you: “That was supposed to last a few minutes – but that couldn’t have been true. It only seemed to last 8 seconds!” This effect frustrated my first four eclipses, and most fellow eclipse fanatics assure me they’ve been bothered by it, too. Yet tape recordings, videos, and the whole edifice of celestial mechanics all claim that it did last the full, advertised two to seven minutes – to within a few seconds, that’s what really happened. Where did all that precious time get lost? True eclipse freaks recognize only two modes of life: eclipse expeditions, and preparing for them. They’ll devote a year or two to perfecting equipment: telescope, camera, weird filters and film; sandproofed, soundproofed, rainproofed (heaven forbid!), and bug resistant. No matter what their expedition sees or does along the way, they’ll fret about totality. Will the clouds part? Will * the * equipment * work? WILL * WE * SEE * IT? The partial eclipse is a tantalizing, exasperating hour and a half. Then the diamond ring forms, gleams and vanishes – and at last they have totality. They gape in awe for just a second, then dive desperately into the sequence, many times rehearsed, of exposures, adjustments, notations so hurried they can only be unraveled from the tape recordings afterwards. Inevitably, totality terminates too soon, often even before the planned sequence does, and they never make it to their own hard-won free-looking phase. “But I got it on film!” they proclaim, “And I can frame that and glow at it forever – even though … I only saw it … through the … camera’s finder.” The novice and the non-astrophotographer take the hang-loose approach. Restless in the partial phase, they get impatient and even quarrelsome around the one-hour mark. But in the last 10 minutes they can feel it: totality’s a-comin’. The world is darker, oranger; shadows look oddly sharp-edged. There’s a nip in the air, the birds are atwitter, and shadow bands go skittering around. The ominous umbra sweeps in, the corona unfolds, the diamond glitters and is extinguished, and “OH * MY * GOD * THAT’S * THE * MOST * BEAUTIFUL * THING * I’VE * EVER * SEEN!” They stare transfixed, all their senses open, trying to take in as much as they can. Unwilling to concede that totality can’t linger past third contact, they keep staring at the emerging solar sliver long after it gets painfully bright. Finally, they must be ordered to look away. Then, limp, with self-satisfied grins, they applaud, or yelp, or shuffle aimlessly and ask where the next one’s gonna be and how to get there. Both styles of eclipse-watching yield the viewer a solid 8 seconds of memory. I replayed all my mental images of my first four totalities in about half a minute. And that was after seeing twelve and a half minutes of totalities. The other twelve minutes just weren’t there! Poof! The culprit is attention span. If you stare transfixed, your mind, knowing the scene isn’t changing, says “I already know that”, and refuses to store away the same image yet again. So the solution is not to stare. What? Not look at that most marvelous miracle you’ve traveled umpteen thousand kilometers to see? No, I didn’t say not to look, I said not to stare. Pre-record a cassette, timed to start at the first diamond ring. On it, tell yourself what to notice during different parts of your precious few minutes in the Moon’s shadow. Notice how the umbra envelopes you, enjoy the diamond ring, then examine the prominences (they’re bright, so you don’t have to be fully dark-adapted). Next, survey the corona – its general shape, and any outstanding features. Switch away for a few seconds, to check the colors all 360° around the horizon. Since totality is just starting, it’ll be darkest in the west, lighter in the east. Now back to the Sun. Your eyes, now partly dark-adapted, are ready for the corona. Which is the very longest streamer, and how far out can you trace it? Where is the innermost dark wedge? Pick out an interesting pattern of filaments and make a mental engraving of it. OK, back to the horizon. Sweep around again, and notice how much difference a minute or two makes. The west is lightening, foretelling totality’s end, and the east is dark, where folks down-path are just now getting theirs. Finally, back to the Sun. Review the best coronal details. Look again at prominences, since there’s a whole different crop of them on the third-contact side. Watch for the pink fringe of chromosphere that anticipates – yes, here it comes – the second diamond ring. How quickly the corona fades! – and now, even the last of it is going – and it’s incredible how bright even that tiny wedge of Sun’s surface can be! And now this eclipse, too, is over. But this time you’ve won. From each separate span of attention during totality you can savor your 8 seconds of mental replay. If you moved your attention enough times, you’ll recall many times that 8-second limit. Yes, Sperling’s 8-Second Law can be beaten!https://maineeclipse.com/other-types-of-eclipses/https://maineeclipse.com/other-types-of-eclipses/Thu, 22 Dec 2022 17:04:45 GMT*Information about the 2024 total eclipse provided by eclipse2024.org* We’ve talked about lunar eclipses, and we’ve talked at length about total and partial solar eclipses. For the sake of completeness, we need to now discuss two other types of solar eclipses: annular and hybrid. (It is very important to note that ALL the solar eclipses we discuss have partial phases, and locations on Earth from which only the partial phases will be visible. This means that no matter what type of eclipse you’re watching, if it’s a solar eclipse, you need to have ISO-certified eclipse glasses on hand for those partial phases!) The eclipse of 2024 is a total eclipse, and is neither annular nor hybrid, but knowing about these other types of eclipses will help us understand more about how eclipse circumstances are calculated. Let’s first go back to this short video clip of the Moon’s shadow (the “umbra”) moving across the face of the Earth as the Moon moves in its orbit: We’ve taken our place far above the North Pole of the Earth, and so the Moon’s left to right motion in its orbit is shown here as “top to bottom”. We see the Moon’s shadow cone passing through space, then hitting the Earth (beginning the total eclipse), and then moving across the face of the Earth to exit off the other side and back into space. Note the white dot that we’ve put at the tip of the Moon’s shadow cone. The dot will serve as a reference point as we watch our other video clips. All you need to know for right now is that the white dot “passes through” the Earth – taking a path that is on the other side of the Earth’s center as compared to the Moon. Now, let’s imagine a situation where the Moon is much farther away from the Earth than in the previous case. Diagrams are not to scale, so it’s tough to explain how this can happen – but suffice it to say that the Moon’s distance from Earth is highly variable over the course of time. At some eclipses, the Moon can be much closer to or farther away from Earth than for other eclipses. When the Moon is near its maximum distance from Earth, we can have this situation: This time, that white dot never touches the Earth; its path takes it not only on the “Moon” side of Earth’s center, but it passes far above Earth’s surface at all times. What does this look like for an observer on Earth? Well, the Moon in this case looks too small to ever cover up all of the Sun. No matter where you are on Earth, you’ll never see all of the Sun covered. But if you are in the path that the red shadow outline makes on the surface of the Earth (called the “path of annularity”), you’ll see an annular eclipse. This eclipse looks like a ring (thus the name “annular”, from “annulus” or “ring” in Latin), and this gives rise to the common name for an annular eclipse: a “Ring of Fire”. The word “annular” does not mean the the eclipse happens once a year – that’s “annual”. The word “annular” comes from the Latin word for “Ring”, and so when you hear the word “annular” you should think of a “ring”-shaped eclipse. Now for the third type of eclipse – the most rare* – called a “Hybrid” eclipse. In this case, the white dot at the umbral tip passes through the Earth, but on the Moon side of Earth’s center. This slight distinction from the total eclipse situation is very critical, because it means that on the extreme edges of the eclipse path (due to the curvature of the Earth), the eclipse is not total.  Here, the white dot is outside the earth, and the shadow that’s being cast by the Moon begins the day by creating an annular eclipse like we just saw. But then, at what’s called the “transition point”, that white dot enters the Earth and the eclipse immediately changes into a total eclipse! The eclipse then carries on along the path like any other total eclipse, until another transition point is reached, the white dot leaves the Earth, and the eclipse ends as an annular. The spacing of the Earth and Moon have to be exactly right for this type of eclipse to occur, as you might expect. And it’s important to note that anyone situated in the path of totality between the two transition points will see a regular total eclipse. It’s impossible for one person to see both the annular and total phases of a hybrid eclipse, because the only way to move faster than the Moon’s shadow to get from one spot to the other is in a supersonic aircraft or the Space Station. You could try to observe the eclipse exactly at one of the transition points, but we know what you’d see – a beaded annular eclipse: © 1986 Glenn Schneider Edge effects guarantee that there’s really no spot you could observe from that would let you see a total eclipse where the Moon and Sun were exactly the same size. (There is a great story from eclipse chaser Glenn Schneider about this type of observation attempt during the 1986 eclipse, above Helsinki Finland.) For most people, it’s enough to know that they are seeing a very special eclipse when they view a hybrid eclipse – and one is coming to Earth, on 20 Apr 2023! You will have to be in Indonesia, or on a tiny spot in far western Australia, to see the total phase of this eclipse! A final note about hybrid eclipses: Many astronomical purists do not like the term “Hybrid”, because a person can really only see the total or the annular phase of this type of eclipse from the path. These people argue that the eclipse is at all times one or the other – it is not truly “combined”, as the term Hybrid might suggest – and they prefer the term “annular-total”. Call it what you want, but “Hybrid” has been around for a long time, and is not likely to go away any time soon. *Actually, the MOST rare eclipses are called “non-central” total or partial eclipses (explanations of which lie outside the scope of this site), and even rarer than that are (theoretical only) non-central eclipses featuring simultaneous annular and total observation locations! If you’re really interested in reading more about this exceedingly rare eclipse type, we’d suggest Jean Meeus’ masterful Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, vol II (Chapter 20) and Morsels IV (chapter 19).https://maineeclipse.com/solar-vs-lunar-eclipses/https://maineeclipse.com/solar-vs-lunar-eclipses/Thu, 22 Dec 2022 14:40:39 GMT*Information about the 2024 total eclipse provided by eclipse2024.org* In a nutshell: Here is the classic “not-to-scale” diagram of a lunar eclipse: Just as with the similar diagram of a solar eclipse, this one is very much NOT to scale – but it does show you what’s happening. The Moon, in its monthly orbit around the Earth, has happened to pass into the Earth’s shadow that’s being cast out into space. If the diagram were to scale, you’d see how small the Earth’s shadow is, relative to the size of the Moon’s orbit, and you’d see why lunar eclipses don’t happen every month. This is what a lunar eclipse looks like: It happens at night, and only at Full Moon. The Moon enters Earth’s shadow, and for about 2 to 4 hours or so, makes its way through that shadow to emerge out the other side. A very bright Full Moon turns a very dull, deep red or brown color, and everyone who can see the Moon (that is, every one on the night side of the Earth) will see the eclipse. You don’t need to use eclipse glasses, because you’re looking at the Moon – and that’s never dangerous to do. A lunar eclipse is very pretty, but it’s nothing compared to the show that North America is going to get on April 8, 2024!https://maineeclipse.com/what-is-a-solar-eclipse/https://maineeclipse.com/what-is-a-solar-eclipse/Wed, 21 Dec 2022 15:28:10 GMT*Information about the 2024 total eclipse provided by eclipse2024.org* Solar eclipses are eclipses where the Moon goes in between the Earth and the Sun, and passes right “in front of” the Sun as seen from the Earth. When this happens, the Moon partially or completely blocks out the Sun’s light, and we see that here on Earth as a very interesting and unusual phenomenon. Here is the traditional picture everybody uses of this situation: The Sun is very bright, and even though the Moon might be passing in front of it, at most places on Earth there will always still be a part of the Sun that the Moon isn’t covering up. Unlike with a lunar eclipse, the whole daytime side of the Earth is never going to see the Sun completely covered up. In the diagram, you can see there is a lot of Earth that is not seeing any of the Moon’s shadow at all. People in this light blue area will not see any eclipse at all. Then, there is a big light gray circle that takes up about half of the Earth’s surface. People in this area will see the Moon covering a piece of the Sun, but not all of it – they will see a partial eclipse. So long as any bright part of the Sun is still able to be seen – regardless of whether the Moon is covering other parts of it up – it is still just as dangerous to look at the Sun as it would be during any other (non-eclipse) time! You simply can’t look directly at the Sun without CERTIFIED eye protection (usually “eclipse glasses”) during a solar eclipse, unless ALL of the Sun is being covered by the Moon. And that requires a very special set of circumstances! In the video below, you see a top view this time; we’re stationed above the north pole, and the Moon is moving in its orbit from “left to right” around the Earth, which from our vantage point means “top to bottom”. See how that little circle of shadow moves across the face of the Earth, and marks out a “path” of totality. Let’s note a couple of things here: First, the drawing is not to scale. Second, this whole business of the shadow moving all the way across the Earth’s surface takes about 3 to 4 hours. Third, there is a little white dot at the very tip of the shadow cone. That dot doesn’t represent anything except the tip of the cone, but will be an item of interest when we discuss other types of eclipses. And finally, note that it’s important to know where you are on Earth to know what kind of eclipse you’re going to see, and when it’s going to happen. If you’re somewhere that the Moon’s shadow is going to be at some point in time, then you’ll see totality – you’re “in the path”! If you’re at the eastern part of the path (the bottom in this view), you’ll see totality later than someone who is west of you, because of the Moon’s movement in its orbit (dragging its shadow behind it as it goes). But if you’re not in the path – if you’re somewhere on Earth that the shadow is never going to touch – then you won’t see totality at all. The best you’ll be able to see is a partial eclipse. Important distinction: Astronomers call an eclipse a “total” eclipse if there is any place on Earth that will see totality. We know that most people on Earth won’t see any eclipse, and lots more people will only see the partial phases of the eclipse. But because there are places on Earth you could go that are in the path, where you would see totality from, THAT’S why this eclipse is called a “total” eclipse. Just remember that it’s not total for everyone! Let’s note that the Moon’s shadow in space kind of looks like a cone, though it’s hard to see in this view. Here is another view of the shadow projected out from the Moon and moving across the Earth, this time with a true “left to right” perspective just like in real life. Note that in this video, the Earth is not moving; we are moving from left to right a little faster than the Moon, so we can see the shadow touching the edges of the Earth on both sides of the path. That’s why it looks like the Earth is moving against the stars – but it’s really not. Let’s also notice what’s happening at the places where the shadow first touches the Earth, and where it leaves. (Remember that the Earth is rotating while all of this shadow movement is going on, and that rotation is from “left to right” in this view.)  Since the axis of the Moon’s shadow is pointed directly at the Sun, you can see that its first point of contact with the Earth takes place at a point on Earth that has just rotated enough so that the Sun is visible. At that point, the Sun is rising. Similarly, on the back end of the eclipse, the shadow last touches the Earth at a point that is rotating away from being able to view the Sun. This means the shadow is lifting off the Earth at a point experiencing local sunset.  Views of totality from the sunrise/sunset points are very rare, and we understand they are quite beautiful. For the 2024 eclipse, those points occur in open ocean, and it is doubtful that anyone will actually observe the eclipse from them. Totality begins at local sunrise… …and ends at local sunset. From now on, let’s call the Moon’s shadow what astronomers call it: the “Umbra”. This Latin word gives rise to the Spanish “sombra”, the French “sombre”, the Italian “ombra”, and the English word “umbrella” (Get it? You’re in the ‘ little shadow’ of the rain!) Let’s now look at three observers on Earth, somewhere in the middle of the path, and see what they see: Again we have our “very much not to scale” drawing, which is good enough for our purposes for right now. This time, we’ve drawn the entire path of totality across the Earth, and have frozen one moment in time where the umbra is being cast upon the lucky observer at point B. This person will be seeing totality, for as long as it takes the Moon to move enough for the umbra to pass over their particular observing location. This is called the “duration” of totality, and that duration depends on where the observer is along the path! (Points in the middle of the path get more duration than points at either end.) Observer B will experience all the amazing things that go along with totality. But what about observers at points A and C? It doesn’t look like they will ever get to see totality, because they aren’t in the path. We’ll assume that they are not too far from the path – or else they wouldn’t even be able to see a partial eclipse. At this particular moment, while B is seeing a total eclipse, observer A is too far north; from this vantage point, A can see the Sun (through their eclipse glasses!) peeking over the “top” of the Moon, and it looks something like this: Observer C is seeing the bottom part of the Sun, because from this perspective, the Moon has gone “too high” over the Sun’s disk to block it all out: Neither one of them sees totality, because they are not in the path. Also, make sure you understand that the farther away from the path these observers are, the less and less of the Sun will be covered – even at the time of maximum coverage. Eventually, we could move so far away from the path that we wouldn’t see any eclipse at all. If all you’re going to see is a partial eclipse, then there will be time when a maximum amount of Sun will be covered. Let’s say it’s 50%, kind of like in the pictures above. We say that you’re experiencing a “50% partial” eclipse in that case. That doesn’t mean you’re seeing only half of a partial eclipse, though. It’s just a shorthand way of saying that 50% of the Sun’s diameter is covered by the Moon.  If you want to get more technical, astronomers make a distinction between Magnitude (amount of the Sun’s diameter that’s covered) and Obscuration (the amount of the Sun’s apparent area that’s covered). Those numbers are not the same (except at 0%); 50% magnitude equals about 40% obscuration, and doing some geometry can give you the conversions between the two for other values (but be warned – you have to know the relative apparent diameters of the Sun and the Moon to get exact values, and those are not the same for every eclipse!). First, here is a drawing that shows the Sun, Moon and Earth all in the same picture. (We’ll show Earth’s orbit as well, just for good measure): Do you only see two things in the picture? Yeah, us too. The yellow dot at left is the Sun, but what’s that over on the right? It looks like a dot – like we’ve left out the Moon completely. Let’s zoom in on that piece at the right, and see: Now we can see that there’s a blue dot (the Earth) in the middle of a tiny circle. Well, that circle is the Moon’s orbit around the Earth! Go back and forth between these two pictures, to get an idea of the scale we’re talking about. When we’re using the Earth-Moon system as our scale, the Sun is really far away, and it’s REALLY big in comparison. In this view, it looks like the Moon is really close to the Earth, so let’s zoom in again to get an idea of the scale of the Earth-Moon system: Now we can see the Earth and Moon with sizes and distances to scale! Remembering that this picture is expanded from that tiny little piece of the first diagram really gives you an idea of the geometry of the situation – and it shows how silly the “diagram not to scale” diagrams really are! They give no sense at all of the huge amount of distance involved when we’re talking about that tiny Moon projecting a very long shadow from the very far away Sun, which just happens to strike the very remote Earth. Here’s the Moon’s shadow with the Earth, drawn to scale: That very long, very thin (but still conical) shadow is what the Moon is projecting out into space, that has to hit the earth to create an eclipse. At this scale, we can start to appreciate how rare an eclipse really is, and this will launch our discussion into why eclipses doesn’t happen every month. Remember, even with this really thin shadow projecting so far out into space, onto an Earth that we now see is pretty small in comparison, we can calculate not only when an eclipse is going to occur, but we can determine the actual path that the umbra is going to take as it scrapes its way over Earth’s surface – and we can do it all VERY accurately. How accurately? Within a couple hundred yards, to within fractions of a second! And all because of math! If you’re interested to take a deeper dive, eclipse2024.org has also written up some of the background material you’ll need to know in order to appreciate and understand more about how these “eclipse circumstances” are calculated.https://maineeclipse.com/close-is-not-close-enough/https://maineeclipse.com/close-is-not-close-enough/Wed, 21 Dec 2022 14:55:31 GMT*Information about the 2024 total eclipse provided by eclipse2024.org* Those who are not in the path of totality simply must travel into the path in order to see one of the most spectacular things they will ever see in their life. The task is difficult, because it is natural to believe that if one is “close” to the path, one will see something that is “pretty good”. But just as the person who only smells the meal outside of the restaurant remains hungry, so too do those who observe the eclipse from outside the path of totality end the day wondering what, indeed, all the fuss was about. For those who experience this eclipse outside the path, a partial eclipse is all they will see. Even if the sun is 99.9% eclipsed for these observers, they will not experience the full, jaw-dropping, knee-buckling, emotionally-overloading, completely overwhelming spectacle that is totality. Partial eclipses are somewhat interesting, in that with the proper eye protection (which MUST be used at all times), one can see the Moon moving slowly across the face of the Sun, but there is no dramatic moment of totality. No beautiful diamond ring gracing the edge of the Moon’s disk. No intense darkening of the skies. No stars and planets suddenly revealing themselves against an impossible twilight. No corona flashing into view (the otherworldly beauty of which makes even veteran total eclipse observers gasp in amazement).  There is no pitch-blackened disk of the Sun. No discernable temperature drop. No impossible nighttime during the day. No scintillating chromosphere or glorious prominences. No 360-degree sunset effect around the horizon. No uncontrollable shouts of emotional overload from the assembled crowd. No lingering post-eclipse sensation of certainty that you have just experienced one of the coolest things you’ll ever see in your life. A partial eclipse is interesting but forgettable, while a total eclipse is a memorable, life-changing event which burns itself into memory – and never fades. And so we, who have seen this sight, ask you to join us on this momentous day, and do everything you possibly can to see it with us. But you must remember that “close” is not close enough; in order to see the eclipse in all its glory, you simply must get to the path of totality!https://maineeclipse.com/iso-certification-for-eclipse-glasses/https://maineeclipse.com/iso-certification-for-eclipse-glasses/Tue, 20 Dec 2022 21:44:19 GMT*Information about the 2024 total eclipse provided by eclipse2024.org* (Note: “filters” is mentioned throughout this discussion and refers to the special filter material that is made specifically for viewing the sun. This filter material is made by several companies, and can be found in many different forms – from eclipse glasses to sheets that can be cut and made into customized filters for cameras, telescopes, and binoculars, and solid glass filters for use with large telescopes. Do NOT try to improvise your own material – ONLY use filter material that is ISO Certified, and has been specifically manufactured and sold as safe for direct solar viewing!) If you’ve read our piece on what it is about looking at the Sun that hurts your eyes, you can see that it’s dangerous! We all have this almost instinctive thing we do whenever the Sun accidentally gets into our field of vision – we squint, we close our eyes, we turn our heads away almost immediately, because the Sun is just too bright to look at. Normally, this is all the protection we need, to make sure our eyes stay safe – we just simply DON’T look at the Sun! So now that there’s a total eclipse of the Sun going on, and we want to look at it because we’ve heard it’s really cool, our natural instincts get in the way. This time, we WANT to look at the Sun, and some people actually do it anyway – and hurt their eyes. (We have to tell you again, DON’T LOOK at the Sun without proper eye protection!) Other people try to use something to block the Sun’s rays that won’t be good enough, and they run the risk of seriously injuring their eyes. So how are we able to view and enjoy the eclipse in a way that won’t hurt our eyes? There are indeed filters that are specially designed to put in front of your eyes and look through, that will cut down on all the dangerous rays of the Sun enough to allow you to look at it without hurting your eyes. Some filters are very expensive, and are used on telescopes and cameras so that even the magnified rays of the Sun won’t be harmful. There are other filters that are not very expensive at all, and they work just as well for the short period of time that people are going to want to look at the Sun while it’s being eclipsed. The simplest ones are called Eclipse Glasses. When an eclipse comes around, EVERYBODY wants to get eclipse glasses so they can take part in the event. And as with all equipment that’s used to make sure you stay safe while doing something that could be dangerous, there have to be standards that are followed in design, manufacture, storage, shipping, and use to make sure the eclipse glasses you want to use are going to work. The ISO (International Standards Organization) is a worldwide organization that publishes these detailed standards on literally everything you can think of. Some standards have been around for a long time, and others are being created every year. The standards exist to protect the public from using devices or methods that are flawed, damaged, not well-designed, or that just plain don’t work. They are written by leading experts, confirmed by other leading experts, and then tested again and again to make sure that if products follow every detail of the standard, they will be safe to use. In 2015, the ISO came out with a standard for solar viewing material, called “ISO 12312-2”. It was written by Dr. Ralph Chou, who is one of the world’s leading experts on eye safety during eclipses – because he himself is an eclipse chaser and a professor of optometry. This standard is incredibly detailed, and defines all the scientific details about how much of each type of light the filters have to follow in order to be OK per the standard. The standard had been reviewed for years for accuracy, and was finally approved for use in 2015. All reputable manufacturers of eclipse glasses and the filter material itself make the filters they use in their eclipse glasses to follow this standard. So, if you use glasses made by these vendors, and use them correctly, you will be fine. The American Astronomical Society has a great page that explains everything about eclipse glasses and eye safety as well. But there’s more, unfortunately. Because the demand for eclipse glasses was so great, some companies out there have made eclipse glasses that don’t conform to the standard, but they are putting the ISO logo on the glasses anyway. This is very bad, because people won’t really know if their glasses are ISO certified just by looking at them. We here at maineeclipse.com (Southern Aroostook Development Corporation Attraction Committee) work directly with the manufacturers of certified, USA-made eclipse glasses, and we stock and sell ONLY glasses that are made by these companies. You can buy your very own pair of certified eclipse glasses here and relax knowing that you will be able to view and enjoy the eclipse safely.https://maineeclipse.com/why-does-the-sun-hurt-your-eyes/https://maineeclipse.com/why-does-the-sun-hurt-your-eyes/Tue, 20 Dec 2022 18:11:23 GMT*Information about the 2024 total eclipse provided by eclipse2024.org* Let’s face it – the Sun is bright! It is so bright that we instinctively look away from it any time it happens to enter our field of view. The brightness of the Sun’s light is one problem, but as is often the case, the things you can’t see can also be really bad for you. Dr. Ralph Chou, is world-renowned within the eclipse community as the world’s leading expert on eclipse eye safety, and he wrote the ISO standard that all eclipse glasses have to conform to. Dr. Chou has told stories of people who, despite all the warnings to the contrary, simply decided they were going to stare at the Sun during an eclipse. Knowing full well that they were taking an almost certain chance of damaging their eyes, these folks decided they were going to do it anyway. Some of them got lucky, and did not do permanent damage to their eyes. But in a couple of cases, Dr. Chou related to us the fact that an ophthalmologist looking at these patients’ retinas could actually see an outline of the partially-eclipsed Sun burnt into them. Using a diagram based on the burn patterns in their retinas, it was actually possible to determine the time of day the patient had chosen to stare at the partial eclipse! The light from the Sun is very bright, and it can indeed burn a spot in your retina that may eventually heal – or it may not. A condition known as Solar Retinopathy can occur if proper eye protection is not used, and according to the experts this condition does not always heal itself. Maybe the best analogy we like to use (though it’s not perfect) is a sunburn on your skin. Of course, the bright sunlight by itself can make your skin feel warm, but we all know to use sunblock to protect our skin from the damaging UV rays of the Sun, if we want to avoid sunburn and increased chances of eventual skin cancer. Your retinas are highly sensitive to light in the blue and UV part of the spectrum as well, and it is not altogether wrong to consider the damage that the Sun’s rays do to your retinas as kind of the same type of damage that a sunburn does to your skin. UV is bad, and blue light is also bad for your retinas! And there is no such thing as sunblock ointment or spray for your eyes! (DO NOT use regular skin sunblock in your eyes! That will also cause serious damage!) Your skin feels warm as is it getting burned, but in general you don’t notice the full effect of the damage that’s been caused until later that day or the next morning, when you realize how much Sun you got. At that point, you have to let your skin heal – But at least it will heal (unless you have a truly bad burn, in which case you would need a doctor’s care.) Your retinas may not be able to heal themselves, though, and this could mean you have eye problems or even blindness for the rest of your life! And what is even worse, according to Dr. Chou, is your retinas have no pain sensors! You cannot tell that you are injuring your retinas while you stare at the Sun, because it doesn’t hurt. You won’t know anything about the damage until it is very much too late. This underscores the great danger that is present, and it is why we have stated on the site so many times to use proper, certified eye protection at all times when viewing the partial phases of the eclipse! How do you avoid skin sunburn? You either stay out of the Sun altogether, or you use sunblock liberally, as directed by the manufacturer of the sunblock. How do you avoid damaging your retinas when viewing an eclipse? You either don’t view the eclipse at all (and that’s no fun!), or you use a PROPER method of blocking the Sun’s dangerous rays while you look. This does NOT mean you can use sunglasses, either! Sunglasses may block out some of the bright light of the Sun, but they will not block all the invisible UV and blue rays that will painlessly do great damage to your retinas. You MUST use filters that block all the dangerous light – and that means ISO-certified eclipse glasses. These inexpensive cardboard filters shaped like eyeglasses may look like toys, but their lenses are made of very special material that has been tested and certified (if you get them from reputable outlets) to block ALL forms of solar radiation that can harm your eyes. Why is it dangerous to look at the Sun during an eclipse? It’s no more dangerous than at any other time – it’s ALWAYS dangerous to look at the Sun when it’s not in total eclipse; it’s just that usually, people don’t want to look at the Sun – it’s too bright! But during an eclipse, everyone wants to grab a peek at what’s going on. The temptation to grab “just a quick glance” can be very strong, but don’t do it! If you want to safely watch the eclipse, you simply need to use certified eye protection to be able to look at the partially-eclipsed Sun. But, is it dangerous to look at the totally-eclipsed Sun? No! In fact, during totality is the ONLY time during an eclipse that you can safely look without eye protection. This is because during totality, the Moon itself is acting like a great big filter, blocking out all the bright and harmful solar radiation from getting to your eyes! In fact, the eclipse glasses block out so much light that if you tried to use them to see the Sun during totality, you wouldn’t be able to see anything. If you are not in the path of totality, you will never see totality, and the Moon will never block out all the Sun for you. This means you must ALWAYS use eclipse glasses to look at the eclipse. And if you are looking at an annular eclipse (like in 2023), then once again you always need to use the eclipse glasses – because the Sun will NEVER be totally eclipsed! Check out our eclipse viewing instructions for even more detailed information about safely viewing a solar eclipse.https://maineeclipse.com/experience-of-totality/https://maineeclipse.com/experience-of-totality/Mon, 29 Aug 2022 13:52:26 GMT*Information about the 2024 total eclipse provided by eclipse2024.org* (Note: “filters” is mentioned throughout this discussion and refers to the special filter material that is made specifically for viewing the sun. This filter material is made by several companies, and can be found in many different forms – from eclipse glasses to sheets that can be cut and made into customized filters for cameras, telescopes, and binoculars, and solid glass filters for use with large telescopes. Do NOT try to improvise your own material – ONLY use filter material that is ISO Certified, and has been specifically manufactured and sold as safe for direct solar viewing!) Hopefully, you will have situated yourself in an open area with lots of friendly people, having a good time and waiting to see one of the most amazing spectacles in nature. Your location must be inside the path of totality in order for you to get the whole show. The closer to the centerline you are, the more totality you will get. Make sure you have a clear view of not only where the Sun is now, but where it’s going to be in a few hours. You will want to have several things with you: A light-colored head covering and sunblock (you’ll be out in the Sun for at least 2-3 hours), chairs and blankets, tables for any equipment you’ve brought (though all you really need are your eyes – and your eclipse glasses!), sunglasses, a proper set of ISO-Certified solar filters or viewing glasses (you must use these for ALL phases of the eclipse except for totality itself), and lots of water to drink. Even if you plan to take no pictures, you can bring binoculars, but do not use them without proper filters except during totality itself! You probably won’t have these filters, because you generally have to make them yourself out of the right kind of filter material. The view of totality through binoculars is outstanding, and during totality it is perfectly safe (only during totality, we said! If you don’t know when that is, then DO NOT look at the Sun through binoculars – EVER). At the time known as C1 (first contact), the Moon’s disk will first touch the edge of the Sun. Now, the Sun is a very bright thing, and you cannot look at it without the right eye protection in front of your eyes, so don’t try. Assuming you have the right filters in front of your eyes, and always keeping them there when you’re looking at the uneclipsed or partially-eclipsed Sun, you should try and find that very first little nibble the Moon makes as it’s first touching the Sun’s disk. At this earliest stage of the eclipse, it’s easy to see the “bite” in the Sun grow slowly larger. Over the next hour and a half, this bite will grow, and will turn the Sun into more and more of a crescent shape. Note that there is absolutely nothing at all to see if you don’t have the proper filters to look through. Even if you could look straight at the Sun, it’s far too bright for you to be able to see any of the bite, so please make sure you have proper filters to view the eclipse. Depending on where you are, the Moon will slowly encroach across the face of the Sun. If by some terrible twist of fate you are not in the path (what in the heck are you doing there?), then you will be able to tell that the Moon is travelling in a line taking it above or below the center of the Sun (as viewed along the Moon’s line of travel). That means that there will come a time when the Moon has covered as much of the Sun as it’s going to, and it will then move off toward the opposite edge of the Sun, leaving an ever-narrowing bite – until the bite is no more. That’s called Fourth Contact, and it means that for you, the eclipse is over. Now, if you’re just outside the path, like maybe less than 30 miles or so, then you will experience “deep” partiality. The Moon will still track off-center, but at the time of maximum coverage, lots of the Sun will end up being covered by it. Now, it’s still not safe to look at without filters (!), but the deeper the partiality you get, the more of the “edge” effects you’ll get to see. By that, we mean that you’ll see (through your eclipse glasses, of course) a very thin sliver of the sun – the closer you are to the path, the thinner the sliver you’ll see. You’ll also get to see the sky darken a bit, and if you’re really close to the path, the overall eerieness of the quality of the light around you will deepen, and you’ll get that weird feeling that the light isn’t right, and that something very strange is going on around you. But, that’s it. That’s all you’ll get, and like your friends who are still well outside the path, you’ll also come away feeling like you didn’t quite get the full experience. Let’s say, then, that you’ve happily found your way into the path. EVERYTHING THAT FOLLOWS ASSUMES YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF TOTALITY. You don’t have to be right on the centerline, but the closer to the centerline you are, the more totality you’ll get. So, let’s consider if you’re in the middle half of the path, nearer the centerline than you are to either edge. What happens then? Well, you’ll still see all the effects of deepening partiality. You’ll get the shrinking sliver of Sun, which is kind of cool but is not the real show. As the sliver thins, though, you get the very weird atmosphere that surrounds an eclipse, which is very difficult to describe. As the sliver of sun gets thinner and thinner, the sky darkens a bit, and the light around you takes on a weird, “clearer” quality. Everything seems sharper and clearer, though darker. It’s kind of like if you were squinting, and everything seemed much more distinct to you. It’s very strange, and it’s a very powerful effect on your senses. As partiality deepens, and the sliver of Sun shrinks even more, the sky gets darker – very slowly, but noticeably darker. You don’t really see it happening, but you can tell it’s changing somehow. The shadows on the ground become very sharp, very contrasty, and you feel like there’s something wrong with your eyes. The wind picks up a bit, and the temperature drops noticeably. Birds roost, evening insects come out, and the world prepares for sunset in the middle of the day…. Partiality deepens even more, and the atmosphere actually starts to be a little scary. The sky gets a deeper and deeper dark blue, a kind of gray veil falls over everything, and the Sun-sliver gets thin enough that you can actually (through your filters, remember?) start to see it shrinking as you watch it. In the five minutes before totality, you can really get a feel for how earth-shatteringly frightening this event must have been to ancient people who had no idea what was going on. We can truly believe that people could have been frightened to death! But not us – the spectacle gets your heart beating fast, your mouth watering for more, and your whole body trembling with excitement that you’re being swept along in a wonderful dance of the cosmos that nothing is going to stop. As the last bite of the Sun slides away, things happen way too fast to describe concisely. You simply cannot focus on every one of the events that are taking place all around you, so you have to pick the few that seem the coolest to you. (There will be more eclipses, after all, and in about 5 minutes you’re going to be on the phone making travel plans to see the next one!) The most important thing going on is the actual Sun up in the sky, but let’s take a peek at just a couple of other things first. The sky surrounding the Sun will grow very dark very quickly. In real time, you will be able to see the deep blue turn to twilight blue, and then to bluish-black. Stars and planets will pop out of nowhere. Roosters will crow and insects will chirp as though night is falling. The temperature has dropped maybe 10 degrees, and there is a positively electric energy that everyone around you is sharing. It is a very positive and uplifting experience, which everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy at least once! If you look to the west, you’ll see a beautiful black curtain rising up out of the Earth, with hints of sunset-orange north and south of it, while off to the east, the sky at the horizon is still rather light. On the ground, your shadow will become impossibly clear and thin, and then will vanish completely as the Sun’s light fades to about the intensity of the full Moon. In the last few seconds before totality, that dull blackness you saw off to the west will suddenly spring up out of the Earth, and take over the whole sky like a gigantic curtain being pulled over you. If you aren’t focused on the Sun at that time, you’ll be looking at the actual shadow of the Moon racing toward you at supersonic speed, covering you with its blackness. If you see that, you’re very lucky, because it happens so fast. And besides, you’ll probably be too awe-struck by what’s going on center stage… As the last sliver of Sun melts away, you will be able to see several things happening simultaneously. You will now definitely have the feeling that there are two bodies involved, because it is impossible to miss the movement of the Moon’s disk in these last seconds. (You should still be watching through the eclipse glasses, by the way.) But while the last bit of the sliver is shrinking, the Sun’s corona will start to come out. The last little bit of the Sun’s light will glare through valleys on the Moon, and will create a “bead” effect at the edge of the Moon’s disk. These are called “Baily’s Beads”, and they are stunning. These will dance around a little, and then will fade away as the very last one of them brightens into a huge bead. Around the edge of the Moon, the Sun’s corona will begin to glow, giving us the famous “diamond ring” effect. It lasts for only about 2-3 seconds, but it is stunning beyond words. Most people will take their filters off at this point (though technically, you’re not supposed to look until the diamond ring is totally gone, we’re just saying that some people choose to do it anyway). You will see the corona burst into view as the diamond fades away, appearing as though someone is smearing wispy-white cotton candy all around the impossibly black hole that’s been cut out of the fabric of a blue-black sky. There may be tongues of red fire visible around the edge of the Sun – these are solar prominences, and no one knows what they will look like until they see them right along with you. The corona’s shape is like that, too. There may be predictions of what it will look like, but every eclipse is different. Once you can’t see anything at all with your filters, take them off! You will see nothing if you keep them on, and now, during totality, they’re not necessary! Keep them in your hand for when totality is over, but use your eyes. Use your binoculars with impunity. Don’t look away if you can help it. The diamond is gone, all the sun’s light is blocked, and you’re looking at the most beautiful thing you’re likely to ever see – the solar corona, shimmering around the Moon’s disk brilliantly (and which is only about as bright as the full Moon). It will look to you as though someone has painted the sky a deep bluish-purplish-black, has cut an impossibly black, perfectly circular hole in it with a pair of scissors, and then smeared radiant, glowing, shimmering cotton candy around that hole. No picture in the world can do justice to the sight you have before you, and you will want to etch it in your memory forever. Ten years from now, you’ll still be able to imagine this sight in your mind. If you have a second to look away, look at the horizon all around you. It will be the orange of a sunset, all the way around the whole horizon! You are in the middle of the circle of shadow that the Moon has projected onto the surface of the Earth, and all around you at the horizon, the eclipse is not total! You’re seeing the sunset effects of the Sun’s light from a hundred miles away. It will be too dark for you to see anything close at hand, but remember NO flashlights, NO flash pictures. Experience everything that is going on around you, as you share this moment with all the people who are now your eclipse buddies forever. After the initial cheers from the crowd, the atmosphere will settle a little, and you’ll be tempted to look away. This is the stage where you have to remember that you’re only going to get this show for a VERY short time, and you have to record it in your mind in order to keep it forever. NO pictures will ever do it justice, so whatever you store in your brain is what you’re going to be left with. Enjoy it, and immerse yourself in it. Tomorrow, you will look at the pictures in the paper, and you won’t believe that those are pictures of what you remember seeing! You’ll know when totality is finally coming to an end, because the western sky will brighten dramatically. The shadow is racing along to the next group of eagerly-awaiting victims to the east, and your time is sadly coming to an end. The right side of the Sun’s black disk will brighten a little, you may see prominences or chromosphere again, and some people will plaintively yell “no, please don’t go away”. Just like that, the corona will dim, the diamond ring will flash into view on the right side of the Sun’s disk (and it’s time again for your eclipse glasses to go back on!), the whistle will blow, the beads will come back, and it will be over. That bright bead of sunlight tells you that the Sun has come back, and you need to IMMEDIATELY put on your eclipse glasses or filters. The shadows will come back, the sky will brighten, and the sliver of Sun will majestically return. This is third contact – the end of totality.