Annular Solar Eclipse This Sunday!
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An annular solar eclipse will take place on Sunday, May 20. Most of North Dakota will be able to view the eclipse or part of the eclipse at around 7:00PM CDT. Sunday’s eclipse will not be your normal eclipse because the moon is farther away from the earth than usual. The angular size of the lunar disc isn’t quite wide enough to cover up the sun completely. So, at the peak of the eclipse, a very thin ring of the sun’s photospehere will be exposed around the moon’s dark circle. This is what is known as an annular eclipse! If you are planning on viewing the eclipse you will need to take some special precautions. Do NOT use sunglasses, polaroid filters, smoked glass, exposed color film, x-ray film, or photographic neutral density filters. You can purchase special eclipse glasses, or you can use #14 or darker welder’s glass, or if you’re feeling crafty you can make a pinhole camera. Several webcasts are also being planned, so you can view the eclipse from inside as well.
Gerri – Communications
