When I was 5, Ms. Jean Fava at Park Avenue Elementary told my first-grade class something special was going to happen: A total solar eclipse. She said it would happen again in 38 years. It was 1979. On Monday, Feb. 26, 1979, she took us outside with our black construction paper pinhole "viewer" and let us watch as we experienced totality in Westchester County, NY.
I'd wager that's not happening in a lot of first-grade classrooms this Monday, but it's one of my coolest memories, even if I was too young to appreciate the… totality… of the experience. Ms. Fava told us it wouldn't happen again for another 38 years, and my 5-year-old brain struggled to do the math. Would I still be alive then? Wasn't 45… old?
Ahem.
Now that I've made it to that ripe old age, I get to see the eclipse again. With most of America cramming themselves into the path of totality — not that I blame them — and the rest of America trying to find a way to view the partial eclipse, if you didn't get your glasses already, good luck finding them. That doesn't mean you can't see the eclipse. My dad's going to use his old welding mask, but if you don't have one with the proper rating lying around, that's probably not an option. You have some other options, though.
1. Make a viewer.
I live with a methodical, mechanically-minded man who made us a pinhole viewer from a cereal box. Here's how: Outline the bottom of the box and cut a piece of white paper to fit inside the bottom (this becomes the screen). Then cut two square holes at the top of the box, one at either end, and tape foil over one hole. Tape the lid closed, then use a needle to punch a small hole in the foil. The smaller and cleaner the hole, the better the image will be on the screen. Stand with your back to the sun so the sun's rays can pass through the foil hole, and you should see it on the screen at the bottom of the box. Here are other ways to make a viewer and here's a way to make a projector.
2. Watch it at a local planetarium.
SPC and other Tampa Bay planetariums have the show. Here's where to find them.
3. Watch it live with NASA.
You don't need glasses to watch it on the NASA Channel and it's gonna be pretty kick-ass to see totality, isn't it? Coverage starts at noon.
Oh, and as for photography? Before you say, well, I'll still be able to photograph the eclipse, remember, if it will damage your eyes, it will damage your image sensor. There's a zillion articles out there on how to photograph it with your iPhone or Android or with your DSLR, but you need the right tools.
This article appears in Aug 17-24, 2017.