About twenty-five people interested in the upcoming partial eclipse of the sun over Timmins on Monday Aug. 21, gathered at the Timmins Public Library to listen to a primer on safely watching the event held by librarian Karina Douglas-Takayesu.
In Timmins, people will be able to see 60-65 per cent of the sun being covered by the moon’s shadow.
“Now you may have heard on the Weather Network of the news that there is a total eclipse of the sun that passes over the central part of the United States,” said Douglas- Takayesu.
“But since we are further north we are not going to see total blackness, but we will still get a pretty good chance to see the effects of the partial eclipse," she added.
Science Timmins will have a public viewing set up a Gillies Lake, if the weather permits. from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
If you are interested drop by, and there will be eclipse glasses, that you can buy or borrow from Science Timmins so you can see the effects of the partial eclipse and protect your eyes.
For people planning on watching the eclipse Karina urged everyone to be safe and protect their eyes.
Because it is a partial eclipse total darkness will not be achieved and prolonged watching of the sun can cause damage to the eye.
“Never look directly at the sun and have your eyes protected” advised Douglas-Takayesu.
“Thing is that if you look too long at the sun you may not realize you have damaged your eyes because you won’t feel any pain in the retina,” she added.
Douglas-Takayesu explained that the damage comes not because the sun is suddenly more intensely brighter than on a regular sunny day, but because a person will be looking at it for a longer period and the increased time staring at the sun will cause damage to the eye.
Damage from prolonged exposure to watching the sun can also be harmful to your camera especially if you plan on pointing it directly to the spot were the moon moves in front of the sun.
For those who are interested in photographing the eclipse special filters can be obtained from camera outlets to protect the camera lens and other heat sensitive components.
This is the first total eclipse that has occurred completely in the United States in the last forty years and the American media is hyping the occurrence.
“We had a partial eclipse in Timmins on Oct. 8, 2014, but it was a very small partial eclipse with only a small shadow and not very noticeable,” Douglas-Takayesu told the audience.
For those who do not have suitable eclipse tested sun glasses, one of the novel ways to view the eclipse is through a pinhole reflector. The pinhole is held up over your shoulder to the eclipsing sun and moon while you have your back to the sun and hold a stiff piece of paper or cardboard in front of the pinhole through which the sun will leave a shadow impression on the paper and you can watch the eclipse.
The hole will produce a shadow in the shape of the eclipse, and you can see the moon as it moves across the sun.
Several pinhole designs were created by Douglas-Takayesu and displayed including one designed with the Canada 150-year logo.
Saturday morning Aug. 19, Science Timmins will be hosting a pinhole creation session for people who want to create their own pinhole. There will be a cost to pay for the material.
For those who want to learn more or want to watch simulations prior to the partial eclipse go to;
