First off folks - safety.
Just opinions here, not professional advice.
Eclipse glasses are either Mylar with carbon black in it, or a thin layer of reflected metal evaporated onto the outside (sun-side) surface. There are standards for them, including certifications and address stamping, but people can lie. Test them yourself, - indoors. Look at a really bright light source, either a floor lamp or your cellphone flashlight. You should see a faint glow at best, and the rest of the room still dark. Outside on a sunny day, it should be dark through them except for the dim yellow sun when you glance at it quickly. Protect them from scratches too, or else eye-damaging radiation can get through. And you won’t notice any eye damage for hours or days.
Welding glasses can work, but the recommended ‘shade is 14. Ranges available are typically 4 to 14, so yours might not be strong enough.
Exposed film? Don’t bother. Apparently, old B/W film contained metallic silver, which blocked infra-red from cooling your retina. But you’d need to have an old roll, still unexposed, then spool some out to expose it, then decide how many layers are safe. Not necessarily worth trying in modern film either, as I’m told now it’s just colour film without the colours.
A pinhole image projected onto a sheet of paper works. And those little blobs of sunlight filtered throuh leaves onto grass will sharpen, and then show a crescent shape.
During totality, when the sun is completely covered, supposedly it is safe. But that can be only a couple of minutes long, and the time just before or after, when that bit of crescent is peeping through, is not safe.
As for a camera, cellphone - treat it like your eyes, put a solar glass lens in front of it, so it is looking through it at the sun. Otherwise, the focused sunlight can fry the insides.
Here in Ottawa, we’re north of the zone, at maybe 99%, so not total. But I’ll watch from the park across the street.
You can also just watch online, such as on CBC here. Or NASA.
Conspiracy theories
Of course, there are lots. I caught a YouTube the other day of some young guy in the US speculating it was all fake. Just like all the stars and planets were, because nobody had actually been to a star so how could they know they existed? And he seemed serious, not just doing some clickbait. Hopefully, he doesn’t have any children, although I do feel sorry for any teachers he may have had in school. Not that he appears to have listened,
Check out The Google - lots of links there for “conspiracy + eclipse”. Many predict the end of times (at some point, not today). According to a good Star article, the eclipse passes over Rapture Indiana, and several towns named Nineveh. The author has concerns though, that this is not just people seeking a spiritual light to follow, nothing wrong with that on its own. These conspiracies often link up with right-wing anti-democracy groups, calling for people to arm themselves, literally, against the coming apocalypse. It’s an easy way for people to gain a sense of belonging to a group, a sense that their sad state of life - real or just perceived, has nothing to do with their own bad choices, but is all the fault of other powerful and yet undefined forces, forces they are all helpless victims against, that can only be fought with chaos. A scary mindset when you have access to weapons or the minds of the more malleable. And a vote.
OK, enough gloom, enjoy the eclipse, however you choose, wherever you are. Post your thoughts in the comments. Hug a friend.
And if you do hanker for an entertaining YouTube review of a flat earther theory, here.
PS - I posted a story recently about The Rapture - check it out here.
PPS - I sent out a request recently as to which stories you’d like me to read on my podcast. If you haven’t done my survey already, please do so.
Good post. I will be watching with my home made cardboard viewer from my back yard-- the heavy cloud we had this morning is clearing. 😊
The eclipse was pretty good from here in Ottawa. I just set up a chair on the park and relaxed with phone and glasses. The weather was mostly clear, with just a high hazy cloud cover.
As the light dimmed the evening birds started chirping away, and it did get a bit cooler. My eclipse glasses showed a shrinking sun, as the moon covered it, up to our 99% max. At max I couldn't see it at all through the glasses, so I figured it was safe then for bare eyes, as glances. However, that haze scattered the sliver of sun to a bright blob, so no detail was available. The birds were all quiet too, but as the eclipse ended they started up again. Perhaps wondering if they'd missed supper?