Countdown to Celestial wonder

group looking at an eclipse

Houlton, ME Prepares for Total Solar Eclipse In less than 50 days, the quaint town of Houlton, Maine, will play host to a spectacular celestial event: a total solar eclipse. As anticipation builds within the community, preparations are underway to welcome visitors from far and wide who seek to witness this awe-inspiring phenomenon. The excitement […]

Eclipse Photography

To photograph or not to photograh? Taking photos of the eclipse, such as the one below, require hundreds of pictures to be taken within the space of only a couple of minutes – and then literally hundreds of hours of post-processing with the computer in order to achieve this spectacular, world-class result. Total Solar Eclipse […]

“Eight Seconds” – An Essay About Totality

*Information about the 2024 total eclipse provided by eclipse2024.org* How long does a total eclipse last? According to Sperling’s “8-Second Law”, ALL Total Solar Eclipses Last 8 Seconds! ©1980 Norman Sperling. Excerpted from What Your Astronomy Textbook Won’t Tell You, 0-913399-04-3. First published in Astronomy magazine, vol. 8, no. 8, August 1980, 24-25. Everyone who sees a total […]

Other Types of Eclipses

We’ve talked about lunar eclipses, and we’ve talked at length about total and partial solar eclipses. For the sake of completeness, we need to now discuss two other types of solar eclipses: annular and hybrid. (It is very important to note that ALL the solar eclipses we discuss have partial phases, and locations on Earth […]

Solar vs. Lunar Eclipses

What is the difference between solar eclipses and lunar eclipses? In a nutshell: Solar Eclipse Lunar Eclipse When does it happen? Day Night What phase of the Moon is it? New Full Who can see it? People in the Moon’s shadow People on the night side of the Earth Do you need eclipse glasses? Yes! […]

What is a Solar Eclipse?

General Info on Solar Eclipses Solar eclipses are eclipses where the Moon goes in between the Earth and the Sun, and passes right “in front of” the Sun as seen from the Earth. When this happens, the Moon partially or completely blocks out the Sun’s light, and we see that here on Earth as a […]

“Close” Is Not Close Enough

Those who are not in the path of totality simply must travel into the path in order to see one of the most spectacular things they will ever see in their life. The task is difficult, because it is natural to believe that if one is “close” to the path, one will see something that […]

ISO Certification for Eclipse Glasses

(Note: “filters” is mentioned throughout this discussion and refers to the special filter material that is made specifically for viewing the sun. This filter material is made by several companies, and can be found in many different forms – from eclipse glasses to sheets that can be cut and made into customized filters for cameras, […]

Why does the Sun hurt your eyes?

Let’s face it – the Sun is bright! It is so bright that we instinctively look away from it any time it happens to enter our field of view. The brightness of the Sun’s light is one problem, but as is often the case, the things you can’t see can also be really bad for you. […]

The Experience of Totality

(Note: “filters” is mentioned throughout this discussion and refers to the special filter material that is made specifically for viewing the sun. This filter material is made by several companies, and can be found in many different forms – from eclipse glasses to sheets that can be cut and made into customized filters for cameras, […]