Partial Solar Eclipse reminder

[bison]

I realize that this was covered in a pinned thread, some time ago, but just wanted to give a reminder, in a currently active thread. Most of North America will experience a partial solar eclipse on Thursday, this week. For details consult the pinned thread, titled 'Upcoming Eclipses', which is full of good information on this.

One additional note. Using one of the safe methods of observing the Sun spelled out there, it should also be possible to observe the largest-yet sunspot of this solar cycle. An added incentive to make the effort needed to safely observe the Sun.

I did a trial run today with 7x50 binoculars, projecting an image of the Sun onto a white paper. Got an image of the Sun about two inches across, and a very satisfactory view of the very conspicuous sunspot.

Edited October 21, 2014 by bison

[bison]

Anyone planning to watch the partial solar eclipse today should check out the pinned thread, above, titled 'How to Observe the Sun Safely'. I mentioned the binoculars projection method in the previous post. If binoculars are not available a piece of cardboard with a small hole in it can be used to project an image of the Sun onto a second piece of cardboard, preferably white in color. At no time should you look directly at the Sun, as this can cause severe damage to your eyes.