Sunday December 24 9:34 AM ET
Christmas Morning Eclipse in North America

By David Lawsky

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A partial solar eclipse will cross North America on Christmas morning on Monday, but don't expect the earth to turn dark.

Scientists say people should be careful in viewing the eclipse because looking directly at the sun can cause permanent eye damage.

An eclipse occurs when the moon crosses the sun, creating a shadow on the Earth. In the western United States about 20 percent of the sun will be blocked on Monday morning, and farther north and east the moon will cover 40 percent to 60 percent of the sun, with the best view of in northeastern Canada.

The eclipse can be seen on the West Coast about 8:30 a.m. (1630 GMT), at about 11:20 a.m. (1720 GMT) in Chicago and about 12:30 p.m. (1730 GMT) on the East Coast.

Even at its most extreme, however, the eclipse will not be noticeable to the naked eye.

``Your eyes handle an enormous range of brightness,'' said Douglas Duncan, an astronomer at the University of Chicago. ''You can see pretty well under a full moon and yet the difference between a full moon scene and a daytime scene is 1 billion times.''

Duncan said that the eclipse will only cut the light in half.

``That's just not enough to produce a very noticeable change,'' he said. ``The only way you're going to see this cool eclipse is if you can find a way to safely look at the sun.

Duncan said there were three safe ways to look at the sun. In some cities mylar glasses are available.

A second way is to poke a pinhole in one piece of paper and hold a second piece of paper about a foot (30 cm) below.

``You get a little teeny, tiny round image of the sun,'' said Duncan. He said that small image will turn to a crescent as the eclipse occurs. ``Poke six pinholes and you'll get six images.''

A third way is to use a pair of binoculars -- but do not look through them.

``Point the fat end of the binoculars at the sun and you'll find am image comes shining out of the eye-piece just like a projector,'' he said.

That image is 2 to 4 inches (5-10 cm) in diameter on a piece of paper below the binoculars. Duncan said one person can hold the binoculars -- or prop them on a fence or a table -- while the other holds the paper.

Duncan said that sunspots are at their most extreme in an 11-year cycle and will also show up in the image.

Details of the times, duration and location of the eclipse, as well as other background material, is available at Duncan's University of Chicago Web site http:/astro.uchicago.edu/duncan/ (link). Note that it does not include a ``www.''

-- Anonymous, December 24, 2000

Answers

Patricia:

I hope you enjoyed it. We have this, what shall I say, very large snow storm moving in. If the sun went out, you wouldn't notice it. Well, I have to heat the smoked pheasant for the meal. It will be good with fresh bread and those pesky little fish eggs and a nice hickory fire in the fireplace.

Best Wishes,,,,

Z

-- Anonymous, December 25, 2000

Well, Z, there I was -- pinhole-cut-out-of-cardboard in left hand, white piece of paper in right hand, both perfectly positioned (according to Mr. Wizard).....

Nuthin'. (We did notice it became somewhat darker, which is a truly relative term when there isn't a cloud in the sky.)

(Well, we were sure it became "somewhat darker".)

Seems that the NE was the Place You Wanted To Be in order to view it fairly well (according to a report I saw last night, they were able to see approximately 55% of the eclipse), but NYC at least was overcast. Here in the SW, we only were treated to approximately 20%.

-- Anonymous, December 26, 2000

We had a great view of the partial eclipse in Toronto. My neighbour had a cardboard sheet with a pin hole in it. We could dispense with the white pieces of paper because we have mounds of fresh white snowbanks here (snowiest December in 20 years).

At about 12.30 EST there wasn't a cloud in the sky and we saw the eclipse through the pin hole reflected off the snowbank. Pretty neat stuff. First time I've ever seen an eclipse, partial or not. We didn't watch it too long as it was about minus 15 C (6 F)!

By the way, Z, we here in the Great White North are gazing down in amusement at our cousins in the States as they experience some "real" winter weather. Be nice to us.... or we'll send down a few more of those Alberta Clippers (g).

JC

-- Anonymous, December 26, 2000