On August 21st of 2017, there will be a solar eclipse that will be visible from Marinette. A solar eclipse is when the moon blocks the sun for some time during the day. With the sun being blocked, it will be pretty dark out during the middle of the day.
Please, do not look at the solar eclipse with your eyes, even if you’re wearing sunglasses.
The sun is the brightest object in the sky, and the moon is the second brightest. Everybody knows that if you were to stare at the sun, you can damage your vision. This will still be true during the solar eclipse. Your eye focuses light to a point in the back of the eye called the macula. The sun is so bright, that focused light can actually burn the macula. This can cause permanent damage called solar retinopathy.
There is no safe way to look directly at the sun with your own eyes. You can however get solar filters that allow you to look at the sun, and the solar eclipse. If you want to buy a solar filter, you must make sure that it meets the transmission requirements of ISO 12312-2. The rating will be printed on the filter glasses, and they will have to be certified. Even with the proper filter, do not look at the sun for more than 15 seconds at a time. NASA recommends 4 companies to buy glasses from, they are; American Paper Optics, Rainbow Symphony, Thousand Oaks Optical, and TSE 17.
Even though the moon will block some of the sun, it is not safe to look at with your eyes, even with conventional sunglasses. The moon will start to block the sun at 11:54 am. The peak of the eclipse will be at 1:16 pm, and will obscure (or block) around 77% of the sun in Marinette. The moon will then start to move out of the way of the sun, and the whole event will be done at 2:37 pm. The best place to observe the solar eclipse will be in southern Illinois, where the sun will be 100% covered by the moon.
The moon is 400x smaller than the sun, but it is 400x closer to us than the sun. This means, the moon is the same size in the sky as the sun is. Earth is the only planet in the solar system that has a moon that is the same apparent size as the sun. This is important, because it allows us to study the sun’s corona, which is the solar flares that come off of the surface of the sun. Even Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity was proven by using a total solar eclipse to measure how star’s light bends around the sun.
Remember, do not look at the sun directly with your eyes. This will cause permanent damage to your vision. Don’t take the risk of losing your sight. If you don’t have time to get a solar filter, the next solar eclipse in the United States will be on April 8th 2024.
