Bill Nye ‘The Science Guy’ shares tips to enjoy upcoming total solar eclipse
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Solar eclipse fever has North America firmly in its grasp ahead of the April 8 phenomenon. Local authorities predict a sharp uptick in tourist footfall as millions gear up to watch the rare celestial event. The total solar eclipse will begin over the South Pacific Ocean with Mexico’s Pacific coast becoming the first location to experience totality at around 11:07 am PDT (approximately 11:30 pm IST). Against this backdrop, Bill Nye ‘The Science Guy’ has shared several tips for viewing the upcoming phenomenon.
“So you have the eclipse glasses on to the last moment you’re watching … and then the world goes dark. You can take your eclipse glasses off, look around, listen to the sounds, and there’ll be a breeze because the ground gets cooled off so fast that the cool air will squeeze the warm air up and you’ll get a little bit of a breeze, and just for those four minutes; it’s amazing,” the science educator and best-selling author told Texas Standard.
Nye shared several tips for those looking to watch the eclipse unfold, but ultimately urged people to “just try to be in the moment” during those crucial minutes.
What is a solar eclipse?
A solar eclipse occurs when the sun, moon and Earth align and the shadow cast by the moon falls on the earth. While the satellite is about 400 times smaller than the sun, it also happens to be about 400 times closer to us than the sun. Therefore they appear to be the same size from Earth’s surface. In a total solar eclipse the sun is ‘blocked out’ by the moon for a few minutes before the celestial bodies continue their orbital dances around the sun.
How can one watch the eclipse?
“A pinhole viewer is very cool. If you’ve never made one, there’s not much to it: Get a small hole. And what I’ve had great success with is something akin to a shoe box or a bigger cardboard box and cut a hole in one end, as big as – pick a number: a ping pong ball; as big as your circle of your thumb and index finger – and then tape a piece of aluminum foil over that opening, and then take a pin and make a tiny hole,” Nye told the publication.
He suggested aluminium foil as an alternative, noting that the experience could be somewhat ruined by the thickness of cardboard. The image will be bigger if the distance between the pinhole and the object one is trying to see at the other end of the box is longer.
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Published: 06 Apr 2024, 03:56 PM IST
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