On Saturday, October 14, a partial solar eclipse will be visible across North America. In Irvine, the eclipse will begin at 8:08 am and end at 10:51 am, with maximum eclipse at 9:25 am. At maximum, the Moon will cover about 70% of the Sun's surface. You can view the eclipse from any location where you have a clear view of the sky toward the east-southeast direction. The Sun will be low in the sky, about 15 degrees above the horizon when the partial eclipse begins.
Eye safety is of the utmost importance when viewing a partial eclipse! Do not look at the Sun, even momentarily, without using eclipse glasses for eye protection. Eclipse glasses or viewers must conform to the ISO 12312-2 standard for safety.
For further information about the eclipse and safe eclipse viewing, see the following sources:
- NASA eclipse information
- NASA eye safety information
- NASA Frequently Asked Questions page with more eclipse information
- Eclipse information from the American Astronomical Society
- The American Astronomical Society maintains this list of vendors of safe eclipse glasses and solar filters for eclipse viewing and photography
One easy and safe way to view the eclipse is with a pinhole projection camera. The Jet Propulsion Lab has a page with instructions on how to make a simple pinhole projector.
(Photo: G. Hewgill / Wikipedia)
