Solar Eclipse

Unfortunately, south Texas is not going to be able to experience this weekend’s solar eclipse (annular solar eclipse) but if you are in the west Texas area of Lubbock and parts of New Mexico this weekend, you just might be able to.  A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, the totally or partially covering the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth.

If you are near Lubbock, which is about 25 miles northeast of the center line of the eclipse, at approximately 8:34PM Central Daylight Time lasting about 4 minutes, a perfect ring will be formed .  Sunset in that area of Texas will be soon after this eclipse and weather is going to have cooperate in order for your viewing successful.  In other words, a cloudless sky and no west Texas dust storms.

And now the safety measures:  DON’T STARE AT THE SUN!  Even though the moon will block 90 percent of the sun's light, it is still unsafe to stare directly at the sun and could cause lifelong damage to eyes. New Mexico State University astronomers caution that regular sunglasses do not provide adequate protection to look safely at the sun.

According to sources at New Mexico State University Astronomy Department in Las Cruces, New Mexico you should use special solar sun glasses (like those are all over) or create a “pin hole” camera.  This is a safe way to watch the eclipse. You can make one with two pieces of paper or cardboard. Poke a small hole in one piece of paper, hold it up to the sun, and let the light from the pinhole shine on the other piece of paper. This projects the image of the sun like a small television.

The pinhole can be any shape. Simply hold the two sheets far enough away from each other that the image of the hole is circular. Do not look at the Sun through the pinhole.