Several minutes before noon today, Airdrie residents can begin viewing the partial solar eclipse. The partial eclipse will start at 11:49 a.m., reaching its maximum around 12:43 p.m.

The maximum is, 'The deepest point of the eclipse, with the Sun at its most hidden.' The eclipse will end at 1:38 p.m. Airdrie and the surrounding areas are expecting an eclipse of about 37.4 per cent magnitude, meaning that the Moon will be covering approximately just over a third of the sun at the maximum. However, experts have underlined that while this celestial event has been highly anticipated, safety is key to enjoying the eclipse.

Safety 

Previously, Simon Poole, the past President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Calgary Chapter), said those who want to directly view the eclipse, will need to have officially certified eclipse glasses. 

"... There's no way around that. If you're going to use equipment, such as binoculars or a telescope, you're going to want to make sure that the aperture of that device is filtered. You can't just filter the eyepieces; you need to filter the actual aperture of it."

He added members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada will be at the TELUS Spark Science Centre until the end of the eclipse. He added that there are also other creative ways one can view the eclipse.

"Some of the ways that I like to observe it: I would get a colander out of my kitchen and make the sun kind of go through all those holes and then on the ground; you should see shadows, and you will see the moon taking a bite out of the sun in all of those shadows."

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has also underlined the importance of eye safety.

"When watching the partial phases of the solar eclipse directly with your eyes, which happens before and after totality, you must look through safe solar viewing glasses (“eclipse glasses”) or a safe handheld solar viewer at all times," NASA stated on its website.

It also added that eclipse glasses are not regular sunglasses; regular sunglasses, no matter how dark, are not safe for viewing the Sun. 

"Safe solar viewers are thousands of times darker and ought to comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard. NASA does not approve of any particular brand of solar viewers. If you don’t have eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer, you can use an indirect viewing method, which does not involve looking directly at the Sun."

According to NASA, one way is to use a pinhole projector, which has a small opening (for example, a hole punched in an index card) and projects an image of the Sun onto a nearby surface.

How do you know if your eclipse glasses are authentic and safe?

Last week there were reports that Amazon.com had to issue a recall of certain types of eclipse sunglasses on its website as they were not legitimate. However, Amazon has since said that the vendor's items have been removed from its website and consumers will receive refunds.

Before that, the American Astronomical Society (AAS) issued a warning to consumers on March 22. On its website, the AAS explains how to spot counterfeit and fake eclipse glasses. 

Rick Fienberg, Project Manager of the AAS Solar Eclipse Task Force said in a press release that Safe solar viewers block all but a minuscule fraction of the Sun’s ultraviolet (UV), visible, and infrared (IR) light.

"Filters that provide safe, comfortable views of the Sun generally transmit between 1 part in 100,000 (0.001 per cent) and 1 part in 2,000,000 (0.00005 per cent) of its visible light,” Fienberg added. "Solar filters are at least 1,000 times darker than even the darkest regular sunglasses." 

Unfortunately, he said there’s no way to tell just by looking at them whether eclipse glasses are genuinely safe.

"But it’s easy to tell if they are not safe. Before [the eclipse], put them on indoors and look around. You shouldn’t be able to see anything through them, except perhaps very bright lights, which should appear very faint through the glasses. If you can see anything else, such as household furnishings or pictures on the wall, your glasses aren’t dark enough for solar viewing."

He underlined that if your glasses pass the indoor test, you can take them outside on a sunny day, put them on, and look around again.

"You still shouldn’t see anything through them, except perhaps the Sun’s reflection off a shiny surface or a puddle, which again should appear very faint. If your glasses pass that test too, glance at the Sun through them for less than a second. You should see a sharp-edged, round disk (the Sun’s visible 'face') that’s comfortably bright.

"Depending on the type of filter in the glasses, the Sun may appear white, bluish-white, yellow, or orange. If your glasses pass all three tests, they are [most likely safe]. But if you aren’t completely confident of the safety of your eclipse glasses, you should use them sparingly. During [today's partial] solar eclipse, look at the Sun through the glasses for no more than two or three seconds every five minutes or so."

This will be enough to observe the Moon covering more and more of the Sun before the maximum eclipse, and then uncovering more and more of it after the maximum eclipse.

What are schools doing? 

Safety precautions are also being taken by schools. The Calgary Catholic School District (CSSD) notified parents and guardians on their website of what will be occurring in school.

"Partial or annular solar eclipses are different from total solar eclipses – there is no period of totality when the moon completely blocks the sun's bright face. Therefore, during partial or annular solar eclipses, it is never safe to look directly at the eclipse without proper eye protection," CSSD stated on its website.

Students who attend CSSD schools will be invited to:

  • Remain at school for an indoor lunch.
  • Ask parents/guardians to send a lunch to school.
  • Participate in supervised indoor activities and away from windows to the outside.  

"If parents/guardians decide that their child will walk home for lunch on Monday, please discuss with your child not to look directly at the sun to protect their eyes from damage from the solar eclipse."

While the Rocky View School Division (RVS) stated on their website that, RVS teachers will talk to students about how to protect their eyes and that they encourage parents and guardians to have these conversations with their children as well. Parents are also encouraged to contact their school with any questions.

Although Airdrie will not see the full solar eclipse, NASA stated that, 'millions of people along the path of totality – which stretches from Texas to Maine in the United States – will see a total solar eclipse, when the Moon completely covers the Sun.'

"Weather permitting, the first location in continental North America that will experience totality is Mexico’s Pacific coast at around 11:07 a.m. PDT [Pacific Time Zone]. The path of the eclipse continues from Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and travelling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine."

The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. The eclipse will exit continental North America on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at 5:16 p.m. NDT.

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