[slate]
Well on August 21st something
really wonderful happens and it's actually rather simple. The moon is going to move in front of the sun
and block out the sun's light. And wherever you are in the United States you're going to
see something really unusual. A lot of people will see a partial eclipse where only part
of the sun is blocked out. If you're lucky enough you'll be in the path of totality
where the entirety of the sun is blocked out. What's really going is the moon is casting
its shadow down on the Earth. And this shadow is going to start crossing the United States
around about in Oregon. Move all the way across and actually exit in South Carolina.
So there are millions of people underneath that shadow that are going to
they're all going to have a chance to see something really spectacular.
[Second SOT no graphics] Well a wonderful thing is happening on August 21st and it's actually very
simple. The moon is going to move in front of the sun and block out the sun's light.
And that means that moon is actually going to be casting a shadow down on the Earth. And we
been incredibly lucky because here in the United States that shadow goes all the way across the
continental United States. It starts in Oregon and goes out in South Carolina.
Even if you're not in that path of totality where the shadow is completely
blocking out the sun, you can still participate in something called a partial eclipse.
where the moon is blocking out some of the light from the sun. So everybody in North
America on August 21st has the chance to see something really
unique and incredibly special.
[slate]
Well that's right, it's dangerous to look at the sun even if it's a partial eclipse, even if most of the
sun is covered. If any bit of the solar surface is still showing don't look at it.
One of the things you can do is have a safe pair of eclipse viewing glasses. And these actually
are safe to look directly at the sun through. So that's one way to do it. If you can't get
safety eclipse glasses, there are ways you can project the sun down onto the ground and
look at it. Just a simple pinhole. Just hold something up with a small
pinhole through it and let the sun shine through it onto the ground and you'll see a projection
of what the sun looks like. You can do that looking down at the bottom of a box too with a pinhole through it.
One of the easiest ways that I know to do it is just simply make tiny little holes
by crossing your fingers together. Let the sun shine down your fingers
Look at what's happening on the ground and you'll see an image of the eclipse being
projected. [second SOT no graphics] Well that's right, it's always
dangerous to look at part of the exposed surface of the sun. It'll burn your eyes.
So one of the things you can do is get yourself a safe pair of eclipse viewing glasses.
If you have these on you can actually look up in the sky directly at the sun and you'll be protected
But if you don't have a pair of eclipse viewing glasses there are other ways you can do this
too. And the simplest way that i know to do it is to simply make a pinhole in something.
Poke a hole in something, it can be a piece of cardboard. You can actually take your hands
cross your fingers together and make lots of little holes between your fingers. Let the light
shine down through that pinhole and look down on the ground below you
and you will actually see a focused image of the sun. As the moon moves in front of the
sun, you'll see the sun turn into a crescent and actually change shape. So
wherever you are it's very very simple to observe the eclipse, simply let the sun shine
through a pinhole and you can watch it all happen down on the ground below you.
[slate]
Well that's right if you're lucky enough to be in that rather narrow
strip only about 65 miles across you can actually take off
your glasses during the peak of the eclipse. What you're going to see is
the moon will slowly start moving in front of the sun blocking out more and more. This
something called the diamond ring effect where there's a little of light shining still. Once this is one
you will actually something called the corona, the atmosphere of the sun.
At this point it's safe to take off your eclipse glasses, but be sure to put them back on
again when even a little bit of the solar surface comes out on the other side.
But when the moon is entirely blocking the sun and you can see the corona
definitely take off your glasses. This is the only time you can safely look
at the sun directly in the sky. [Second SOT no graphics] At
first you'll see the moon moving in front of the sun more and more, and through your safe eclipse
glasses you can watch the sun becoming more and more crescent shaped. But then
finally when the moon entirely covers up the sun, you'll actually be able to see something
called the solar corona. This is the outer atmosphere of the sun, it's actually
a wonderful million degree cloud of gas that can form wonderful
tendrils and shapes because of the sun's magnetic field. Take off your glasses at this point and actually enjoy seeing the solar corona around the sun.
The moon will slowly move off the sun and as soon as it does put
your eclipse glasses back on. Even if there's a tiny little bit of the sun's surface showing
it's not safe. But this is amazing, there really is going to be a time for about two and a half minutes
where you can look directly at the sun and it will be one of the most spectacular shows you've ever
seen.
[slate] Well of course there are many more people
in the United States that are going to be seeing a partial eclipse that aren't actually in the path of totality.
But that doesn't mean you're going to be miss out on some really wonderful things. One of the things you'll
notice during the day, is if you can actually see the sun using either eclipse glasses
or projection device, you can see the shape of the sun change.
Here you can see the moon is blocking out the sun. One of my favorite things to do is look
at a tree with lots of leaves. Look and see how the sunlight is filtering
down onto the ground through the leaves. The leaves are making lots of tiny little pinhole
cameras and projecting images of the sun. So all day long, the whole thing
it takes about four hours from start to finish. You can see the moon start to move in front of
the sun. And even if it never completely covers it up, you'll notice the sky going
darker, you'll notice shadows changes and hopefully you have a pinhole camera and you can
actually watch the shape of the sun change. [Second SOT no graphics]
There are far more people in the United States that are going to be experiencing a partial eclipse and this can
also be really fascinating. For one thing you can actually view it with your eclipse glasses if you have
happen to have them. Directly looking at the moon moving in front of the sun. But if you
don't have eclipse glasses you can make one of these projection cameras. Simple get a pinhole
to let the sunshine through it and actually want an image of the sun
indeed change from the projection. One of the favorite things I like to
for is a tree and if you can see sunlight filtering through the leaves of the tree
on the ground you'll notice that the shapes of the shadows are changing. So there
are many ways you can observe really wonderful changes going on all around you. And that
a really simple way to participate in the eclipse is that NASA will have several live television
broadcasts from across the country. So you can actually tune in
to people who are in the path of totality and see what's going on there. So for that
NASA.gov/eclipselive and all day long
we're going to be having wonderful coverage of the eclipse.
[slate]
I've been lucky enough to see two total eclipses of the sun. I've seen one in Egypt and one
in Siberia. And although I'm a scientist and of course I understand what's going on
it really doesn't prepare you for how beautiful these things are.
When the moon entirely covers up the sun and you see the solar corona
this is a gorgeous, complex structure. The atmosphere of the sun
that's being influenced by the magnetic field of the sun. You see this dark, hold
in the sky where the sun should be. These streamers of corona coming out
You may actually even see prominences, these wonderful giant loops of
gas above the sun's surface. You can actually see those around the edge
of the moon. You can see the planets Mercury and Venus out next to the sun.
You can see the bright stars around the sun. And all around you
360 degrees you see a sunset. There's nothing like that
ever happens besides a total solar eclipse. The first time I saw one
it was almost like looking up into the sky of a different world. This wasn't
the sky that Earth should have. It affects you deeply. I really think
that you owe it to yourself sometime in your lifetime. Maybe not next week, but maybe someday later
do see a total solar eclipse.
[Second SOT no graphics] It's really hard to describe how profound seeing a total eclipse of the sun
is. The sky actually goes dark during the day and you look up and
at the sky and you see the completely covered sun. It's like there's a black
hole in the sky and there are these streamers of corona coming out from it
you can actually see the planets Mercury and Venus next to the sun. You can see
the bright stars above you and all the way around you there's a sunset.
360 degrees. There's nothing like that ever
except a total eclipse of the sun. The first time I saw one which was actually
in Egypt, it was almost like looking up into the sky of another world. It was
felt wonderful but also kind of spooky, it affects you.
It actually gives you goose bumps. So I have to say this is actually more
profound and emotionally resonant than you might think. I think that
if I had advice to anybody, no matter you are, sometime in your life,
try to get yourself to a total eclipse of the sun. It actually will change you.
[slate]
Well the best place to go is
NASA has set up this wonderful website with safety tips, viewing tips, maps
Go to eclipse2017.nasa.gov.
You can find out all sorts of things like the science that NASA is doing around
this eclipse. Where there are local events like libraries and museums near you
that you can participate in. This is a wonderful one-stop-shopping place
to find out everything you need to know about the eclipse.
[Second SOT no graphics] Well NASA has set up a really wonderful website. There are tips
about how to view the eclipse. There are maps of where the different shapes of the shadow
are going to be. There are links to all kinds of local events that are going on at libraries or
museums or zoos. So for all of that go to eclipse2017.nasa.gov
.nasa.gov. So you should be able to find out everything
you need there. We've set it up so that all your questions will be answered.