[slate]
Well on August
21st the moon is going to move between the sun and
the Earth and a shadow is going to cast down on the Earth
The shadow will start in Oregon and travel
about 1,400 miles an hour across 14 states
ending in Charleston, South Carolina. Now everyone in
North America, Central and part of South America will experience
at least a partial eclipse. But folks in that 70
mile wide path we call the path of totality will get an extra
special treat. They will see the daylight turn to
a moonlit night in a matter of a few minutes and for two
to two and a half minutes they will get to see a total solar eclipse
and view the sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, with their
very own eyes.
[slate]
NASA is always studying the interaction between the
sun and the Earth and the sun's impact on our atmosphere
and this eclipse gives us a unique opportunity. So
when the moon moves between the sun and the Earth it casts a shadow down
on the Earth and we know when that shadow is there how big it is
and we can even see in this image the amount of light
that is not reaching the ground as that shadow
is traveling across the Earth. And so by looking at that shadow
we can look at clouds, changes in temperature, changes in humidity.
And it gives us an opportunity to do our own experiment
to study the impact of the sun on our environment
and the weather.
[slate]
This is a great eclipse because it's covering the entire United States
from coast to coast. But that means we can't have scientists at
everywhere. So this is an opportunity for everyone in the United
States to join us and be part of this grand experiment
and be able to actually make your own measurement
with an app through the GLOBE Observer program
and a thermometer, you can help us
measure changes in clouds, changes in temperature
and gather huge amounts of data
that we can then use to produce better climate and
weather models to better understand our atmosphere. So we're looking forward
everyone helping us make this the largest citizen
science experiment ever.
[slate]
Well we've been studying
this interaction between the sun and the Earth for over 40 years.
Trying to figure out how much energy the sun is putting in
to our atmosphere, how much makes its way down to the ground
and how much escapes back out into space. So this eclipse
is an opportunity to in a somewhat controlled
environment to study this interaction, this
input and output between energy in and energy out and we're hoping
that everyone who observes this eclipse can join us
and be part of this great experiment given to us by nature.
[slate]
Well there are two ways
to really safely view the eclipse. To view it directly
there you want to use safe solar viewing glasses or
professionally made and certified filters.
But you can also use indirect methods like pinhole projection
You can even use your hands to make a, project
the sunlight down onto the ground to see the
moon in front of the sun and create this really cool crescent
shadow. So it's very important that you get safe solar viewing glasses
that are certified and are only no more than about three years
old.
[slate]
Go to eclipse2017.nasa.gov. You can
find out all about how to safety view the eclipse; where activities
are happening all over the country. Even what libraries and museums
are doing. There's lots of activities, as well as
information about the science and the citizen science that NASA
and all of our partners are doing from coast to coast.