Hello Solar Eclipse!
A NASA Photo…Not Mine. Very Cool, Right?
![<p>Most days we barely give the giant, searing-hot ball of plasma in the sky a second thought.</p><p> That will change dramatically on Monday, August 21: when the total solar eclipse <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/total-solar-eclipse-nasa-research-jets-2017-7?utm_source=msn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=msn-slideshow&utm_campaign=bodyurl"> sweeps across the continental United States</a> for the first time in nearly 100 years.</p><p> If you're not careful, though, the sun can still rapidly scorch your eyeballs.</p><p> While the moon will at least partially block the sun for the entire nation, the glowing crescent left behind will emit ultraviolet rays - the same light that causes sunburn - and could damage the light-sensing cells of your eyes' retinas. Even looking with normal sunglasses can lead to solar retinopathy, a condition that can temporarily blind you, <a href="https://www.nature.com/eye/journal/v16/n2/pdf/6700067a.pdf">lead to missing spots</a> in your vision, or even <a href="http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=3269">cause permanent blindness</a>.</p><p> The only safe time to look at the solar eclipse with the naked eye, <a href="https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety">according to NASA</a>, is during <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-total-solar-eclipses-will-end-2017-6?utm_source=msn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=msn-slideshow&utm_campaign=bodyurl"> totality</a>: where the moon's fullest, darkest umbral shadow touches. But only a small piece of America will <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/total-solar-eclipse-chasing-airplane-experience-2017-8?utm_source=msn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=msn-slideshow&utm_campaign=bodyurl"> experience its magic</a> (and for less than three minutes of the entire two- to three-hour eclipse, <a href="https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/interactive_map/index.html">depending on the location</a>).</p><p> The good news is that there are several easy ways to safely watch the eclipse - even if you're not in the path of totality, or you are and want to look at the sun beforehand.</p><p> Here are seven of the best methods.</p>]({"default":{"load":"default","w":"73","h":"55","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AApTpDr.img?h=547&w=728&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=964&y=620"},"size3column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"47","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AApTpDr.img?h=469&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=964&y=620"},"size2column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"47","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AApTpDr.img?h=469&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=964&y=620"}})
Today. About 11:15 to 12:15 Mountain Time. Lunchtime.
The Entire Experience will Last about 90 Minutes.
We Sit in the 75% Eclipse Path. Perhaps You have a Better View.
The closest Total Eclipse Spot to Us is Casper, Wyoming…724 miles away.
We Have to Stay Put. Work and School.
My Friend and Her Husband are on the Road to Casper as I Write. (Hi Lorraine!)
There is Bumper to Bumper Traffic. Potential for a Tectonic Plate Shift with all the Traffic. 🙂
For a short time, Earth will be as dim as farther-out worlds in the solar system.
Hope We Get to See Something.
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So How To Celebrate this Lunchtime Solar Eclipse???
With Clouds and Showers are on the Menu….Moon Pies Will Have to Do.
Shoot. It Hardly Ever Rains Here.
But This Was Early Morning…
Hoping for a Magical Solar Experience.
Hello Moon. Good Night Sun.
I’ll Catch You on the Flip Side. Sugar High and All.
A Little Bit of Puppet Magic
The sun is shining here right now, but we are having lots of hit and miss showers and clouds…not sure we’ll see it here…
Thanks for stopping by, Linda…hope clear skies are in your forecast(!)
I was in Toronto between trains. We didn’t see much — it didn’t even get dark. But the bell guy at the Royal York let me look through his glasses and I could see the crescent moon that way — there’s supposed to be one coming through Michigan in 2024 — Hope I’m around to see that one!
Here’s to 2024…I heard it’s Texas through Maine…I don’t want to miss it. Guess NM was too far south and Toronto was definitely too far north.