Solar Eclipse April 2024

 

Partial Solar Eclipse in NJ

This Saturday, October 14, 2023, we will experience a partial solar eclipse.  Even if we see only about 25% of the Sun covered by the Moon, it is worth it!  

Here is what to do:

1. Step outside at about 12:10 PM.  The eclipse will have already started.
2. Locate the Sun and watch it with your solar viewing glasses.
3. The Moon will cover the lower right corner of the Sun.
4. You can use your glasses to cover the phone lenses and take pictures.
5. The maximum is expected at about 1:20 PM
6. The phenomenon will last until about 2:30 PM

If you want to share all cool pictures, please send them and we will post them here!

Please visit timeanddate.com for more details.

The Next Total Solar Eclipse in NY on April 8, 2024

The next total solar eclipse will be visible in the New York area in exactly 5 years, on April 8, 2024 (see the Eclipse Map). 

Source: timeanddate.com

The Next Total Solar Eclipse in the US on October 14, 2023

 The next total solar eclipse will be visible in the United States on October 14, 2023 (see the Eclipse Map). 

Source: Time and Date

The Green Ray

This summer, I was traveling with SAS Airlines.  The airlines added a tail camera view to the passengers' menu, so with a click on the screen we could choose to see the airplane flying some 40,000 feet above the ground.  What a cool feature!  

When watching the sunrise, I witnessed a rare occurrence of a green ray of the Sun.  I have heard about that phenomenon, but have never seen it.  It was astonishing to see; as a human, as a human, I just remained overwhelmed by the beauty of nature; as a physicist, I admired the refraction of light from a new perspective.  Here is the picture:

Sunburst

The diffraction of light causes an interesting effect in photography.  The light waves bend on the camera lens and interfere causing lighter and darker spots.  These lighter and darker spots form patterns of lines like the one visible in the picture above.  Nice.  A friend of mine made that picture in Italy, at the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Great American Eclipse - some amateur pictures

Joanna

Sister H.

Sean

Katherine

Get Ready for the Great American Eclipse - August 21, 2017

With the new moon on July 23, the last one before the solar eclipse of August 21,  SPACE.COM announced the final countdown. 

In New Jersey, the partial eclipse will be visible beginning approximately 1:20 PM through 4:00 PM, with the maximum of about 70% of the Sun covered at 2:45 PM. That will be an exciting 2.5 h of observation and documentation.  All are welcome to join us: Obal Hall main entrance, Lodi. 

Source: https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/nation/

A sunspot

Sunspots are regions on the solar surface that appear dark because they are cooler than the surrounding photosphere, typically by about 1500 K (Sunspots)

 (photo done with a cellphone camera through Victor's telescope)

An image of the Sun

 

Thanks to Victor Davies, a member of the Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton, this summer we had an opportunity to observe the Sun through a telescope (photos: above by Karen and below by Anthony)

Observing the Sun (2)

Solar-projection method

Do not watch the Sun directly through the telescope! Instead, observe it on a paper screen.

Observing the Sun (1)

Direct viewing - through filters or special glasses

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