Monday, August 21, 2017

Total Solar Eclipse 2017







"Never safe to look directly at the Sun"? Did you ever watch the sun rise or set? I've done that many times.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Depending on your location in Wisconsin, the eclipse will start shortly before noon with the peak viewing time a few minutes after 1 p.m. In Milwaukee, the eclipse starts at 11:53 a.m., peaks at 1:18 p.m. when 83% of the sun is covered, and ends at 2:40 p.m.

Since Wisconsin isn't in the path of totality, the difference will be literally like night and day. If you're indoors it might look overcast. But outdoors shadows will look a bit weird. Everywhere the sun casts a shadow or glows through holes, it produces a tiny image of itself. When the sun starts to look like a crescent as the moon slides across during the eclipse, it will distort shadows and look strange. Even the sun shining through leaves will cast unfamiliar crescent images.
Since Wisconsin isn't in the path of totality, and a good deal of cloud cover is expected for the southeastern part of the state, the "Great American Eclipse" will not be so great here.

Oh, well.



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