We get eclipses every now and then on our home planet earth. Eclipse serves as a good time for out humanity to gaze on some complicated wonders of how the universe works. Now the question arises that How to watch the solar eclipse? Well its very dangerous to observe solar eclipses with naked eyes. So, to help you with that, we have compiled a short article on how to look at solar eclipse without glasses. However, eclipses are dangerous as well so it is very important to keep safety measure in check while observing one! You might have heard or read basic precaution steps that you should NEVER look directly at the sun while a solar eclipse, not even on a hot sunny day.
However many scientists and doctors believe that it is completely okay to look at a solar eclipse with their naked eye. But they don’t mention that this is only possible if the face of the sun is completely covered by the moon.
As soon as the moon moves aside, the sun will bombard its harmful ultraviolet rays and radiation highlight burn down your retinas. So you should always wear Glasses while looking at a solar eclipse. So today in this article, we are going to talk about How to watch the solar eclipse. But before that let’s learn a little bit about the solar eclipse in general. It doesn’t hurt to have a little bit knowledge about what is a solar eclipse.
What is Solar Eclipse and How to look at solar eclipse
A solar eclipse is an astrological phenomenon when the rays from the sun are completely covered by Moon’s shade. There is a different kind of eclipses like total eclipse and partial solar eclipse. In a partial eclipse, you will see the sun rays being half cut via the moon. No matter what kind of solar eclipse it is – You should always take measures to protect your eyes from getting burned from harmful radiation from the sun.
How is solar eclipse caused
A solar eclipse is an astrological event when the moon gets between earth and our home star, The Sun. In this astrological event, out moon casts a small shadow over the earth. However its a fun fact that solar eclipse can only take place when new moon phase is there. Whenever the moon passes through its orbit between sun and earth, its show falls on our planet, and this alignment produces a dark spot on our planet. People living here can see the solar eclipse as the moon will be blocking sun rays and radiation.
How to watch the solar eclipse in future
We can enjoy solar eclipses for few million years only as the moon is moving apart from earth five centimetres per year. 4 centimetres to be exact. Currently, our natural satellite moon is in a perfect position which makes it look the same size as the sun. On the contrary, the sun is very very large as compared to our moon. After a few million years, the moon will move away from earth, and we cannot enjoy solar eclipses then.
Types of solar eclipses – How to watch the solar eclipse
There are mainly four types of solar eclipses namely total, annular, partial and hybrid. Let us learn some brief info about them before we move to the topic How to look at the solar eclipse.
Total solar eclipses
You can call it as a happy accident of nature. As we talked earlier that our sun is a lot bigger than our moon. So let us play with numbers of astronomy. Our sun is 864000 miles in diameter which is about 400 times greater than our natural satellite which is measuring just about 2160 miles only. But the fun part is that Moon is located 400 times closer to our home planet. So this cancels out their apparent size, and that’s the reason why total solar eclipse looks so good. If you also want to see these beautiful phenomena with your eyes, then please read upto the end because we will be discussing How to watch the solar eclipse with different methods.
During the total solar eclipse, our moon will cast an umbra shadow on our earth’s surface. However, this still can let sun pass some harmful rays, so you need to take care. You can refer our smart guide on How to watch the solar eclipse. Just keep on reading as we will show you how to look at solar eclipse without getting your retinas get extreme sunburn.
Partial Solar Eclipse
It occurs when a partial portion of shadow passes over the earth surface. In most of these cases, a part of the sun is always visible in the eclipse period. So how to look at solar eclipse? Well, there are various circumstances which decide how many portions of sun will be visible. So you can still look at solar eclipse in case of partial solar eclipse by following our short guide on How to watch the solar eclipse.
However, penumbra gives us a short glance to our planet over the north pole and south pole. In these cases, the people residing in places might not see partial eclipse but will only be able to see a small scallop of sun hidden by our moon. There are various scenarios where these celestial bodies align themselves within a couple of thousand miles for the path of the total eclipse. So, in this case, you can observe a partial eclipse. So how to look at solar eclipse in case of partial solar eclipse? Well, don’t worry we will tell you in a short bit.
Hybrid solar eclipses
These are the very special type of solar eclipses, and these are commonly known as (A-T) eclipses. You need to refer How to watch the solar eclipse to observe this astrological event with your eyes. Hybrid solar eclipse starts as a basic annular eclipse because the time of umbra will fall short while making contact with earth. After few minutes, it will become total because the roundness of planet with reach up and will intercept the shadow tip near the middle of its path.
Fact: Out of all solar eclipses, about 28 percent of them are total, 32 percent of them are annular with 5 percent hybrids and remaining ones are total solar eclipses.
how to look at solar eclipse
There are several different methods by which you can observe the solar eclipse without damaging your eyes. So let’s start with some quick solutions to How to watch the solar eclipse without getting burn in your eyes.
Make an eclipse viewer or a pinhole projector
A Simple pinhole projector will help you to view a solar eclipse very easily. You can make one very easily by making a small tiny hole in a cardboard. If next time someone asks you How to watch the solar eclipse then simply tell them to make a pinhole projector.
Use a solar filter on your viewing equipment
If you’re using a telescope or binoculars then we recommend you to use some sort of commercial solar filters which are available. By using a solar filter, you can see the beautiful eclipse, and you can even take photographs of it.
Use welder’s glass
Welder glasses have a shade number 14 which is ideal for watching solar eclipses. Furthermore, they are very affordable too. So if someone asks you How to watch the solar eclipse with a tight budget? The suggest them to buy a welder’s glass.
So, guys, we have come to the end of this article about How to watch the solar eclipse. We hope that you understood it completely and got some crucial knowledge about it.
