RING OF FIRE: How to Watch the Eclipse
Make your own camera obscura and don’t miss this morning’s annular solar eclipse, beginning in just a few minutes on the Left Coast
Yes, we at Bette Dangerous fight fascism, but we also pause for the beauty that surrounds us.
In just a few minutes, the annular ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse will cross North America, Central and South America. According to NASA, it will be visible in many parts of the United States and Mexico.
In the US, the annular solar eclipse — when the moon passes between the sun and earth, but when it is near its farthest point from earth — begins in Oregon at 9:13 am PDT — earlier in California — and ends in Texas at 12:03 pm CDT.
It will likely also be visible over Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. It crosses over to South America in Colombia, before ending at sunset in the Atlantic Ocean, according to NASA.
Do not look directly at the eclipse.
If you do not have a pair of eclipse glasses, you can make your own camera obscura.
Here are the instructions for making a Camera Obscura for observing a solar eclipse.
Build yourself a “CAMERA OBSCURA” (a lensless lens):
Cut a rectangle in the format ca 40cm x 40cm (~ 16″ x 16″) from a cardboard
In the middle of the cardboard, cut a hole with 10cm x 10cm (~ 4″ x 4″) edge length
Place a layer of aluminum foil over the hole with adhesive tape along the four sides of the hole. The aluminum foil should have at least 15cm x 15cm (~ 6″ x 6″) edge length so that it is significantly larger than the rectangular hole cut into the carton.
In this aluminum foil you can pierce 50 to 100 holes with a pin within the 10 x 10 cm cutout – randomly distributed
Next (while outside in the sun) hold the cardboard with the aluminum foil over a white letter size paper sheet – with the aluminum foil in about 30 to 40 centimeters distance to the white paper. Shade the sun with the 40 x 40 cm cardboard so that the light of the sun falls from the sky – through the punched holes in the alufoil – onto the white paper.
Voila.
Unlike the real fake president of yore, no need to look directly into the sun to enjoy nature doing its magnificent thing.
Now put on Social Distortion’s version of Johnny Cash’s ‘Ring of Fire’ and let’s look upward, safely, with our own camera obscuras or eclipse glasses.
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“We just have to see that the battle for democracy is broader. It's deeper.”—David Pepper
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