If the sky is clear around midday on Thursday, Feb. 26, we shall be able to view the partial phases of a total solar eclipse here in Morgantown. At 12:22 p.m. Moon will begin to move in front of Sun, crossing the edge around the "5:30 o'clock" position on Sun's disk. Maximum obscuration of Sun's disk, and the greatest reduction of its light reaching us, occurs at 1:09 p.m. when a little more than a sixth of Sun's diameter is blocked by Moon. About 8.6% of the area of Sun's circular disk will be covered then, reducing the amount of sunlight reaching us by about this same amount. The eclipse ends at 1:55 p.m. when Moon moves away from Sun near the "8:30 o'clock" position.
SINCE SOME PART OF SUN'S DISK IS ALWAYS IN VIEW YOU MUST NOT LOOK AT SUN WITHOUT TAKING ADEQUATE PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE YOUR EYESIGHT!
The safest way to observe this eclipse is to use pinhole projection. Punch a small hole in a piece of cardboard and project Sun's image on another piece of cardboard held 20 inches or more behind the pinhole. You can safely look at the image projected on the second piece of cardboard. You can also use a pair of binoculars to project Sun's image onto a screen, but PLEASE do not yield to the temptation to look through the binoculars.
Another safe way to view the eclipse is through two layers of completely exposed and developed black and white photographic film. The silver in the resulting "negatives" will filter enough of the infrared radiation from the sunlight to prevent damage to your eyes. The emulsion must contain silver; color photographic film does not contain silver and must not be used. If you have access to welder's glass, you may safely view the eclipse through number 14 welder's glass. Finally, you may purchase filters containing thin coatings of aluminum deposited on plastic that are specially designed for viewing Sun. Reputable manufacturer's names can be found in publications such as Sky and Telescope or Astronomy and on various World Wide Web sites. One is NASA's site http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/eclipse/980226/text/filter-sources.html. Filters for telescopes are also listed in the same places, but be sure they are sold for use on a telescope, since filters for naked-eye viewing are generally not sufficient for devices such as telescopes that concentrate sunlight. Filters which are NOT safe to use are color film, smoked glass, sunglasses, photographic neutral density and polarizing filters, and deep gray or green filters often sold with inexpensive telescopes, to name only a few. There are no nerves that provide sensations of pain in the retina of your eye, so not feeling any unpleasant sensation is not a sign that the invisible infrared rays are not damaging your eyes.
The central path of this eclipse, where you would be able to view a total eclipse, begins at sunrise 1800 miles southeast of Hawaii. The central part of Moon's shadow -- the umbra -- first crosses land in the Galapagos Islands and next encounters land along the border between Panama and Columbia. It continues into Venezuela where Maracaibo enjoys nearly 3 minutes of totality. It sweeps across the Caribbean where the Lesser Antilles islands of Aruba and Curacao are treated to nearly 2 minutes or more of totality and moves on to cross the Leeward Islands of Montserrat, Antigua, and Guadeloupe which experience about 3 minutes of totality. The eclipse ends when the shadow passes into space as it leaves Earth at sunset about 600 miles west of Morocco. Many of these places are prime winter vacation locations where there is a high probability of the weather being clear. We should expect good pictures of the total eclipse.
If it is clear in Morgantown, Tomchin Observatory atop Hodges Hall on WVU's downtown campus will be open to the public from approximately noon until 2:00 p.m. on the afternoon of Feb. 26 for viewing this eclipse.
