Hey, Cosmical fans & Space Geeks!
Two VERY COOL solar events are coming up within the next 2 months and I thought you guys would appreciate this…
There is an annular solar eclipse coming up at the end of the month that will be viewable from the western US. Annular means that the sun won’t be entirely covered becasue the moon is too far away and will appear smaller than the sun, but those at just the right spots can see a ring of fire as the moon will sit right in the center. Others int he surrounding areas will see a very cool “bite” taken out of the sun. I had one of these pass through here ont he winter solstice of 2010. I remember the sky DID get a few shades darker. It was a bit eerie. But I didn’t have solar glasses to really see it. (Read about it HERE.)
The next event also involves a celestial object passing in front of the sun, and it’s the ONLY chance we’ll have to see it in our lifetime! It’s the transit of venus at the beginning of June. Depending on where you are in the world, you’ll be able to see Venus cross over the sun on June 5th or June 6th. (Read about it HERE.)
BUT… if you want to see these things you need to have the proper equipment! Sure, these are events you don’t want to miss if you can help it, but no matter how cool they are, going blind is PROBABLY not worth it.
I just ordered a bunch of Solar Viewing Eclipse Glasses from HERE. From that same page there are plenty of other items you can buy for safe solar viewing. So if you have any chance of viewing either of these events (and/or the TOTAL solar eclipse in Australia at the end of the year!), then I suggest you grab a bunch of these and enjoy!
Oh, and as a final note, these glasses can be whipped out at any time for sunspot observing!
