Watching a solar eclipse

[jmurray01]

I've been researching, and apparently unless I look at it through paper, through a welding mask (which I do not own) or proper glasses (which I also do not own) I am forced to ignore a spectacular solar event

Please say there is another way to watch it without any equipment which I don't have!

[NGC 1502]

As your eyesight is so much more important than watching an eclipse, then

the only correct advise is to use proper eye protection, or project the image

from a telescope onto a white card or board, without looking through the telescope.

But it may be on TV or online, in which case, you can still see it safely.

Sorry, but it's safety first !!

Regards, Ed.

Edit, I think that Brian Cox is doing some live astronomy on TV in early Jan,

but cannot find the link, can anyone find it please ? Thanks, Ed.

[Bizibilder]

Without the CORRECT equipment....... DON'T DO IT. YOU WILL PERMANENTLY RUIN YOUR EYESIGHT!!

[mike.brightmore]

Informatrion about the BBC2 Stargazing Live programmes 3 - 5 January with Brian Cox can be found at BBC - BBC Two Programmes - Stargazing LIVE

[mike.brightmore]

It's well worth getting a pair of solar viewing glasses such as Eclipse Glasses : Partial Solar Eclipse : Tuesday 4 January 2011

Not sure if they can deliver before 4 January though

[geordieskies]

I remember watching the Solar Eclipse in August 1999 by drilling 2 small holes of different sizes in my South facing garage door. A few sheets of white paper on the floor and the family sitting around them in the dark garage made for an unusual but clear way to watch the eclipse projected onto the paper. It wasn't a total eclipse up here in the N.E. but I remember the light outside taking on a cool blueish tinge and everything was very quiet. The 2 holes now have self-tapping screws in them so they can be used again :-)

[NGC 1502]

Post #6 good solution, didn't think of that idea ! Good links from others,

Cheers, Ed.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Sunglasses will do. The time of the eclipse is just as the sun is rising and not very strong.

[redfox1971]

It was a few years ago now but I remember useing my weilding helmet or brazing googles,sure it was said to be ok,I never went blind.

[Photosbykev]

With the eclipsed sun on the horizon it is very unlikely to be strong enough to damage your eyes but I wouldn't use anything that magnifies the image without proper protection.

[hunterknox]

Sunglasses will do. The time of the eclipse is just as the sun is rising and not very strong.

Sunglasses will dilate your pupils and allow more UV in. Feels more comfortable but it's actually more damaging. Don't do it!

Eclipse glasses are the best solution if you can get them (usually about a couple of quid from an astro shop or sciencey museums). If you have a telescope or binoculars then Baader solar film is brilliant and under £20.

If all the astro shops are shut then get a tube of pringles, eat the crisps at new year, stab a hole in the metal end, put some tracing paper over the open end and hold it taught with a rubber band. Hold it up to the sun and you should have a decent pinhole camera for solar projection.

[r-mo]

It should be a really good eclipse for photography with it being so low in the sky a partially eclipsed sun and a silhouetted foreground will make for a fantastic photo if you can find the right location. It'll be perfectly safe through a camera LCD screen and with wider angles you'll be OK through the viewfinder.

Just whatever you do don't look directly through a telescope or bins or even a telephoto (zoomed in) lens on your camera. Magnified sun is not good even at that time of day.

[r-mo]

If you have a telescope or binoculars then Baader solar film is brilliant and under £20.

It is great but I was wondering if anyone can recommend something a bit better for imaging. The photos I've taken with it are great for sunspots but the images I get seem very flat and dull. I've seen images online which are far more detailed and colourful.

Here's the kind of image I get with my telescope and the baader film Sunspots 17/10/2010 on Twitpic

[hunterknox]

The photos I've taken with it are great for sunspots but the images I get seem very flat and dull. I've seen images online which are far more detailed and colourful.

R-mo, you don't say what equipment you're using, but if you haven't done it already, I'd consider the following:

Baader photographic film ND3.8 - lets through more light than th standard film so you can take shorter exposures which are less prone to atmospheric smushing. Not safe for visual stuff though

Green filter - good for contrast on white light filtered telescopes. Baader solar continuum filter is the gold standard (£60-ish for a 1.25" version). A wratten #58 (dark green) is the not-so-rich man's choice for under a tenner.

A mono webcam is another must for high resolution imaging.

If you have the means a herschel prism is supposed to be the ultimate for white light views, but I have no experience of these myself.

Bear in mind that some of the white light images you see may have been tweaked in post processing to make them more colourful. No doubt you'll also have seen hydrogen alpha images, which show a different layer of the sun and are a whole different ball game in terms of equipment.

I've always been fond of this pic by Maxim Usatov, which shows what one of the world's best solar imagers can do with a small scope and Baader film.