WHAT IS A SOLAR ECLIPSE?

A solar eclipse is a natural phenomenon that occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth. As the moon passes between the two bodies, it blocks the light of the sun and casts a shadow on the Earth.

There are three types of solar eclipse: total, partial, and annular.

A total solar eclipse happens when the Earth, the moon, and the sun align perfectly. The moon blocks a large surface area of the sun and the sky becomes dark. Total solar eclipses can be viewed only from a small area on Earth by people who are in the center of the moon’s shadow.

A partial solar eclipse happens when the Earth, the moon, and the sun align imperfectly. The moon blocks a smaller surface area of the sun and thereby eclipses it partially.

An annular solar eclipse happens when the Earth, the moon, and the sun align while the moon is at its farthest distance from the Earth. Since the moon is closer to the sun, it cannot block it entirely. Instead of a total darkening of the sky, the sun casts a ring of light around the moon.

(Flint Wild, “What is an Eclipse?”, nasa.gov, 2017)

MONDAY’S SOLAR ECLIPSE

Monday’s eclipse will be a total solar eclipse. However, not everyone who sees the eclipse will experience it as such. The “path of totality” is a 70-mile-wide span that runs from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. For those who are within the path of totality, they will be able to see the total eclipse, which lasts for roughly two minutes and forty seconds. For those who are outside the path of totality, they will be able to see a partial eclipse of the sun.

Fun Fact: While solar eclipses occur every eighteen months, the United States last experienced a total solar eclipse 38 years ago in 1979!

WHEN TO SEE IT?

New Jersey Audiences                             Massachusetts Audiences
Start of Eclipse: 1:22pm                            Start of Eclipse: 1:29pm
Maximum Eclipse: 2:44pm                      Maximum Eclipse: 2:47pm
End of Eclipse: 4:00pm                             End of Eclipse: 4:00pm

HOW TO SEE IT?

Safety is important when looking at the sun. No one wants to be blinded by the light. Our guess is you’ve heard about solar eclipse glasses. These are ISO 12312-2 compliant shades that block sunlight better than the average pair of sunglasses. If you’re looking to pick some up for the family, check with local science museums, schools, public libraries, and home improvement centers. If you turn up empty, you can ask for ISO 12312-2 compliant shades or see whether a neighbor has any extra pairs.

As most readers of this blog will experience a partial solar eclipse, it is important to wear your eclipse shades for the duration of your viewing. For those viewing the eclipse from within the path of totality, it is safe to remove the shades during the two-minute totality period. Otherwise, shades should be worn at all times.

To learn more about the solar eclipse, visit www.eclipse2017.nasa.gov.

Don’t forget to share your photos with us on the Remyndr Facebook Page. We’d love to hear about your experience!

Have fun at the 2017 total solar eclipse!

American life feels engulfed by politics. Family gatherings, friendly conversations, the bifurcated news cycle, and even escapist forms of entertainment are dominated by the Donald Trump presidency. It’s overwhelming. It’s polarizing. It’s seemingly impossible to escape. Yet this week one extraordinary story managed to break through the news cycle and inspire new conversation: the discovery of TRAPPIST-1.

TRAPPIST-1 is a dwarf star located 39 light years (approx. 234 trillion mi.) away from Earth. Sounds far. But consider that our closest galaxy – the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy – is 25,000 light years away. TRAPPIST-1 then is the cosmic equivalent of our next-door neighbor! To think about it another way, if you traveled to TRAPPIST-1, it’s plausible that you could reach it within your lifetime!

Why would I travel to TRAPPIST-1? That’s most remarkable part of the discovery: NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope revealed “the first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star,” (Chou, Potter, Landau). Seven potentially habitable planets! While all seven planets could have liquid water under the right atmospheric conditions, three of the planets orbit within what’s called “the habitable zone,” or the area around a star in which a rocky planet is most likely to have liquid water.

How do we know that the TRAPPIST-1 planets are rocky? Scientists used the Spitzer telescope’s data to measure the planets’ mass and volume, which they then used to calculate the planets’ densities (mass/volume=density). Based on those findings, all of the TRAPPIST-1 planets are thought to be rocky.

Based on the Spitzer discovery, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has started to screen four of the seven planets, including the three planets in the habitable zone. These screenings aim to assess the planets’ atmospheres and detect “the presence of puffy, hydrogen-dominated atmospheres, typical for gaseous worlds like Neptune.” Moreover, NASA’s Kepler space telescope is studying TRAPPIST-1, which will “allow astronomers to refine the properties of the known planets, as well as search for additional planets in the system,” (Chou, Potter, Landau). The Kepler study is expected to conclude in March and will be made available to the public. These three telescopes will work in concert to refine astronomers’ understanding of the planetary properties of the TRAPPIST-1 system:

“Spitzer, Hubble, and Kepler will help astronomers plan for follow-up studies using NASA’s upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, launching in 2018. With much greater sensitivity, Webb will be able to detect the chemical fingerprints of water, methane, oxygen, ozone, and other components of a planet’s atmosphere. Webb also will analyze planets’ temperatures and surface pressures – key factors in assessing their habitability,” (Chou, Potter, Landau).

What an exciting time to be alive! The TRAPPIST-1 discovery can alter our perspective on what’s going on in the world and inspire us to look forward to the future. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov.