But do not view spectacle without using solar filters

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Charles Perry
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Atlantic Canada will be among the few places in North America where stargazers will have an opportunity Saturday morning to view a partial solar eclipse.

The only area in North America where the total solar eclipse could be seen would be Nunavut in the eastern Arctic, Andrew Fazekas, president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Montreal Centre, said yesterday.

Other parts of the world where the total eclipse will be visible, he said, include northern Russia, China, Mongolia and Greenland.

But residents of the Atlantic provinces will be able to see a partial eclipse, says Fazekas, who is also the astronomy correspondent for The Weather Network. He said the best view will be in Newfoundland and Labrador.

But in Metro Moncton, he said you will able to see 26 minutes of the solar eclipse, provided, of course, that it is a clear day.

"If you look eastward low in the sky at sunrise (6:01 a.m.) on Saturday morning, the sun will look like a big, round cookie with a small bite taken out of it," he said. "That bite is the tail end of the eclipse. So, you should see it as soon after sunrise as possible because it will keep getting smaller and smaller until it disappears at 6:27 a.m."

Fazekas emphasized, however, that under no circumstances should anyone view any part of the eclipse without the protection of a solar filter. To do so, you would be risking serious damage to your eyes and even blindness, he said.

And that applies whether you are viewing the spectacle with the naked eye or looking at it through binoculars or a telescope, he added.

Some people think that their eyes are safe if they are wearing sunglasses, or are watching the eclipse through compact discs or Pop Tart bags, said the astronomer.

But none of these will protect their eyes, he said, adding that you need solar filters.

He said solar filters or special glasses equipped with these filters can be purchased at astronomy shops or any place where telescopes are sold.

However, you can indirectly view the partial eclipse, without a solar filter, via the pinhole system, said Fazekas.

He explained that this involves poking a small pinhole in a piece of cardboard using a pencil point, facing it toward the sun and holding a second piece of cardboard behind it in the shadow of the first one. He said the hole will project a small image of the eclipse on the second piece of cardboard.

However, at no point, do you look through the pinhole at the sun as it could be very damaging to your eyesight, he added.

Fazekas said this marks the first total solar eclipse since March 29, 2006. He said there will be another one on July 22, 2009, but noted it is only going to be visible in the western Pacific and Asia.

n Charles Perry's Weather appears daily in the Times & Transcript.