Lining up for the big event April 8
Darlene Wroe
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
DISTRICT - It's being described as a once-in-a-lifetime event.
The earth, moon and sun will align so that areas of Canada, the United States and Mexico will be able to see a solar eclipse April 8.
Timiskaming District Secondary School science and math teacher Shane Hartzke explained in a telephone interview that for the Temiskaming Shores area, "we're in the path where we won't reach totality of the eclipse, but we'll still see some of the sun almost completely filled." He anticipates a noticeable darkness over the area.
Residents of Temiskaming Shores and area who have the right viewing aids to watch the eclipse will see the moon cover most of the sun at around 3:15 p.m. This will be the peak of the eclipse for this area. To view a total eclipse, it will be necessary to travel to other parts of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces, which some are indeed planning to do.
Hartzke explained that totality is the moment when the moon completely covers up the brightness of the sun. For about one-and-a-half to two minutes viewers will be able to see the outermost part of the sun's atmosphere, called the corona.
In the Temiskaming Shores area, "if the skies remain clear, we should witness the moon partially covering the sun for a few minutes, resulting in a noticeable darkness of the surroundings," Hartzke related.
PROTECT YOUR EYES
He noted that this is not something that people will be able to view with the naked eye.
Caution will be needed to protect your eyes and the eyes of your children during this event.
"You don't want people looking up and staring at the sun obviously. Normally you don't worry about that on a day-to-day basis because it's so bright that we can't stare at it very long, so we don't really have that danger. The danger occurs when the sun is darkened and people can look up at it. They don't feel it's too bright, so they can look at it. But the UV rays of the sun are still getting into their eyes."
That damages the cells of the retina at the back of the eye.
"That's the big danger, especially for young kids because they're hearing about it."
He noted most children will be at home that day because all area school boards have declared April 8 as a professional development (PD) day.
He explained that looking at the eclipse without ISO certified solar viewing glasses or a hand-held solar viewer could cause short-term and long-term viewing loss.
Solar viewing glasses or a hand-held solar viewer must have the ISO number 12312-2.
He noted that some places are already selling out of the ISO-certified viewers.
If you decide to view the eclipse through welding glass, make sure it is Level 14 welding glass.
"Most welding helmets would have a Level 11 or 10." Those would not have dark enough glass to provide the needed protection, he explained, adding he would not recommend using welding glass unless you are certain it is Level 14.
People can also make a pinhole projection box.
"This is a really great activity to do with kids," said Hartzke.
"Basically you just need a cardboard box and aluminum foil and masking tape. There's really good instructions on how to do that on the Canadian Space Agency website. When you're using a shadow box, you don't actually look at the sun." Instead, you turn your back to the sun and view the shadow of the moon going across the box.
RARE OCCURRENCE
Hartzke said the approaching eclipse is a unique opportunity for people to view a rare occurrence.
The Temiskaming region can anticipate some degree of a solar eclipse once every 20 years, but a total eclipse is not expected in this part of Canada until 2104 when it will appear in Quebec, said Hartzke.
"One of the things that gets me excited is oftentimes we don't get very much connection with the moon and the sun and that sort of stuff. As a science teacher I really enjoy contemplating the marvels of the natural world around us."
He noted that the eclipse is happening at a time when the Artemis Space Program is underway. This is a joint effort between NASA and other space agencies to return to the moon to study it more. In a year Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will be travelling on Artemis II back to the moon and he and other crew members will be witnessing the Earthrise from their position at the far side of the moon.
Darlene Wroe, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Temiskaming Speaker
