What is the best way to view it? Someone told me an old Welders shield or glasses are good enough, but I have no idea...and haven't really researched it.

Welders' Goggles

 

Welders' goggles or the filters for welder's goggles with a rating of 14 or higher are safe to use for looking directly at the Sun. They are also relatively inexpensive.

 

Warning! Do not attempt to use these filters behind a pair of binoculars or telescope (that is, between your eyes and the binoculars or telescope). The magnifying optics of these devices will focus the full power of the Sun onto the welder's filter which could crack and shatter from the intense heat after only a few minutes. If you wish to observe the eclipse with binoculars or a telescope, you must use a specially designed solar filter on the front end (or Sun-side) of the instrument.

These events make me think of Apocalypto. Really makes ya wonder what those people would have thought back then.

I live in about the best place to see it. I will just hang out by the pool with the family, cookout, and throw the glasses on when its about time.

So wait, are you guys saying I need special goggles to view it?

 

I can't just look up with my eyes and see it?

So wait, are you guys saying I need special goggles to view it?

 

I can't just look up with my eyes and see it?

 

 

That's correct. Please don't do that.

That's correct. Please don't do that.

 

Okay, if that's the case, I'll be missing it.

 

Not going out and buying something I'll never use again.

Okay, if that's the case, I'll be missing it.

 

Not going out and buying something I'll never use again.

 

There are several inexpensive ways to view a solar eclipse. To make a quick version of the pinhole projector, take a sheet of paper and make a very small hole in the middle of it using a pin or a thumbtack. Make sure that the hole is round and smooth. With your back towards the Sun, hold the piece of paper allowing the Sun to shine through the pinhole, projecting the sunlight on another piece of paper. You will be able to "see" a projection of the moon blocking the Sun, creating a crescent shape.

 

Additionally, cross the outstretched, slightly open fingers of one hand over the outstretched, slightly open fingers of the other. With your back to the sun, look at your hands’ shadow on the ground. The little spaces between your fingers will project a grid of small images on the ground, showing the sun as a crescent during the partial phases of the eclipse.

NASA has some very interesting websites available with information on the solar eclipse:

 

https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html

 

https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/

I can't wait. Hope it's a nice day for an eclipse.

Or a white wedding.

Or a white wedding.

 

 

Good one !!! I'm not a big Billy Idol fan, though.

Anyone planning on attending a "watch party" or maybe traveling to an area that will be in the band of totality? This will be a pretty special eclipse. We don't get this good of a look at a total eclipse that often. I'm thinking about either Hopkinsville or possibly the western part of Tennessee I will probably go a couple of days ahead of the eclipse and make it a final little vacation before school starts backs. I'm really looking forward to this rare chance of seeing a total eclipse in our general vicinity?

 

What are your plans?

I'll be here, attending Science Friction's Solar Eclipse Cyber Party. What can I bring?

Okay, if that's the case, I'll be missing it.

 

Not going out and buying something I'll never use again.

You can get a pair for about $1.

Can't wait. Bluto Jr. & I will be making the drive, probably early that morning.

I get the sense that this is a big deal....but not to me.

I get the sense that this is a big deal....but not to me.

 

Different strokes for different folks, but I'm not the least bit interested. I'll be at work that Monday, hopefully the traffic will be light with everyone else on Earth at Land Between the Lakes (an area I love deeply, by the way).