Eclipse of the Sun madness

Two schools in the UK are going to prevent their pupils form going out to see the partial eclipse of the sun this coming Friday morning for fear of eye damage. This is quite silly. Young children should not be denied seeing a rare astronomical phenomenon of learning from it.

There are plenty of ways of observing a partial eclipse safely. But, first let it be said that you should not gaze at the sun in its partial or annular eclipse phase. You will damage your eyes even if you look for just a second or so. You must use protection. It is also risky to look at the full phase of a solar eclipse when the moon completely obscures the sun as  a full eclipse  can quickly become a partial eclipse.

Here are some ways to look at  a partial or full eclipse of the sun.

Use a mirror to reflect  the sun onto a white card.

Put  the mirror a white envelop with a 1 mm hole in it . The hole will make the image of the sun appear in better focus.

Use a pin hole in a piece of white card to project an image of the sun and the moon onto a piece of white card or a white wall.

Look at the shadow of the sun through some tree leaves as the leaves can act as a form of pin-hole.

Use "Mylar" film which is a form of Aluminumised polyester. You must check , however, that there are no holes whatsoever in the film.

Use special black polymer film. I shall be using this.

Never look at the sun through binoculars or a telescope without a professional filter even when there is a full eclipse. You are almost certain to damage your eyes. Always be careful when scanning the sky with binoculars not to look at the sun.

If you take the right precautions it should be perfectly safe to view the eclipse.

When I was a kid in the early sixties we used a glass plate held over a candle, which smoked up the plate to make it very dark or black. We did this at school; no-one's eyes were damaged. I do not recommend this and you do so as an adult at your own risk. Children should not be encouraged to do this.

When I have not had professional equipment available, at my own risk I have used photographic black and white film which has been exposed to the light to go almost completely black. Medium format film is best and you should use several layers to make sure any hole is covered up by an alternative layer. This worked for me but I did not look at the sun for more than a couple of seconds; I did not damage my eyes. Once again you do so at your own risk as an adult; this is not recommended for children.

In London the sun will be obscured by 84% at its maximum. You will not notice much diminution of the light. Do not look directly at the sun at anytime during the partial eclipse. I do not expect many accidents to be caused in London despite all the scaremongering. You are obliged to keep your eyes on the road at all times when driving. In the North of Scotland the sun will be obscured more but there will not be a total eclipse but motorists will probably need to put their lights on as they would for a thunderstorm.
http://www.solareclipse2015.org.uk/london/

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/11/131102-solar-eclipse-safe-viewing-science-sun-space/

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/safety2.html

Happy viewing and stay safe and commiserations for the young children who are denied to opportunity to see this event. When you are older you will be free to make your own mind up about your safety.