Kusha Navadar (3:34)

It's like the Goldilocks situation. Everything has to be just right for folks that are planning to see it. Help us understand the timeline and the direction we should be looking. When will the eclipse begin to be visible in our area and what time will it peak?

Bart Freed (3:49)

I think it starts around 1 o' clock in this area, 1 and 1:30, and it'll peak about 2:30 or so, and then it's done by about 3:30. Basically, it's worth watching sort of periodically throughout the whole process because what, what's fun is to watch the moon kind of slowly gobble up any sunspots that are happening on the surface of the sun. And we're near solar maximum. So it's almost a dead guarantee that there will be sunspots to sort of watch disappear.

Kusha Navadar (4:35)

And so if folks wanted to look at it safely, obviously. Is there anything about the way the sun's light works during an eclipse that makes it more dangerous? Or is it just the fact that a lot of people, you know, more people than usual, will be trying to look at the sun?

Bart Freed (4:50)

I think the temptation is that as the sun passes over a significant, I'm sorry, the moon passes over a significant percentage of the sun and, and is sort of gobbling it up, that the temptation is kind of to take off your glasses and try and see that naked eye. The problem is that even 10% of the sun is an exceedingly bright object for your retinas, and you really don't want to spend any time staring at the sun even at a 90% eclipse, which is almost what we're going to get here. I think we get about 88% or 89% from in New York City. There really is no good time to look at the sun naked eye. But there are plenty of options, which is, which is a good thing.

Kusha Navadar (5:40)

Yeah, let's get into some of those options. So there's this. There are these special viewing glasses. I think everybody, you know, maybe from elementary school remembers being taught these special glasses. Where can folks get Those glasses before the big cosmic show on Monday that basically block out almost all the light.

Bart Freed (5:56)

New Yorkers are really lucky. The New York Public Library system apparently is making solar eclipse glasses available for free. They're. They're a quality product, and you really need to make sure that if you're buying them somewhere that you're getting them from a very reputable dealer. Because, sadly, there are some products out there that claim to be certified, but in fact, they're fraudulent, and they may or may not actually be safe enough. So you definitely want to get them from a reputable dealer, but from the public library, you. You go, and. And they'll just hand you a pair.

Kusha Navadar (6:40)

We actually did just get a text from a guest that I want to ask is our glasses from? So this caller just asked us if glasses from 2017 are still usable. Was that.

Bart Freed (6:52)

Yes, they don't go bad. As long as they haven't been scratched or damaged in any way, they should still be good. But the assumption is that the pair that you got back then were legitimately certified and a quality product. So if you don't know that to be the case, you know, why not get a free pair from the library? And. And then you're. Then you know, you're safe. And of course, the other thing you can do is, in terms of naked eye, you can just do solar projection, which is, you know, you can do a pinhole projection system. And there are many ways to do that that you can look up online. One of the funniest ways to do it is to hold up a colander, like a spaghetti colander, that has, you know, hundreds of holes, and you cast these images onto the ground, and you see instead of one partial eclipse, you see hundreds of little partial eclipses. So that's always very sort of picturesque.

Kusha Navadar (7:50)

And then you can make spaghetti afterwards for dinner, and then dinner and a.

Bart Freed (7:53)

Show and a glass of wine. Toast your success. New York apparently is gonna. The city is going to have some great weather. It looks like the forecast is really optimal from here in New York City. So for people who can't get to a spot where totality is visible, it is definitely worth watching even a good partial solar eclipse.

Kusha Navadar (8:16)

So I want to get into some places where that is possible. We did just get another text before we get to where the word corona is a word that you used when describing the interaction and the image created between the sun and the moon. Can you just define that for listeners?

Bart Freed (8:34)

Sure. So the solar corona is sort of an enigmatic thing. It is a. A portion of the Sun's atmosphere, that it expands well out past what we see as the visible disk. And it's actually a plasma. And if I recollect correctly, its temperature is close somewhere in the neighborhood of a million degrees. So it, but it's, it's a, it's the kind of thing where it measures or it's given as a million degrees. But that doesn't mean necessarily that it's a million degrees hot, you know, that it's going to melt everything in sight. That's not actually the case because it's a, it's a plasma, but it's not visible. It's not bright enough to see at any given time when you can see any part of the sun. So for example, in an annular eclipse, only a small percentage of the sun is actually visible, yet that's still bright enough to swamp out the corona.

Casual Commentator (9:43)

Right.

Kusha Navadar (9:44)

And I'd love to get to some of the local events before we close out. So your organization, the Amateur Astronomers association is going to be hosting a public observation at Greenwood Cemetery. And the events flyer says that there are going to be special edition glasses and telescopes with solar filters as well as music, hands on activities and self guided tours. What kinds of hands on activities will be there?

Bart Freed (10:09)

I not terribly sure only because I've been planning on heading out to Texas. But typically it'll be something like where, where kids can draw the sun and draw the planets and things like that and, or there will be models of the solar system I imagine, or things that they can make. So that's usually what we do. I'm not sure we're doing it by the way, in conjunction with Pioneer Works. So you know, big shout out to them and with, in conjunction with Greenwood Cemetery itself. So we expect, we've got, I think on order we bought 5,000 pairs of Eclipse, special edition eclipse glasses. Wow.

Kusha Navadar (10:55)

And can you just go over those details one more time? Where's the where and the time?

Bart Freed (11:02)

So it'll be at Greenwood Cemetery, which is in Brooklyn. And you know you can get, I mean you can visit Greenwood Cemetery at any time but during the day. But you really want to be there, you know, when the eclipse occurs. And so you want to be there, let's say from, from about 1 to 4 in that, in that area. The actual event is 130 to 5. That's being, you know, supported by us and by Pioneer Works.

Kusha Navadar (11:30)

And it sounds like partiality begins at 2:15 and the peak in Eastern Time is at 3:25 for listeners.

Bart Freed (11:38)

Sounds about right.

Kusha Navadar (11:39)

Yeah.

Bart Freed (11:39)

Yeah.

Kusha Navadar (11:40)

Well Bart, thank you so much. Bart Freed is the executive vice president of the New York City based Amateur Astronomers Association. Thank you so much for joining us and for going through all that with us. Really appreciate it.

Bart Freed (11:50)

Well, it's really my pleasure and good luck to everybody that we all have good weather for the eclipse.

Kusha Navadar (11:54)

Yeah. And listeners. On Monday, we'll close out our show by talking with Rebecca Boyle, a science writer and author of a new book called Our How Earth's Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution and Made Us who We Are. And we'll also hear from WNYC Gothamist reporter Rosemary Misdry, who will be at AAA's event in Greenwood Cemetery.

Casual Commentator (12:16)

I' ma put you on, nephew.

Bart Freed (12:17)

All right. Unk. Welcome to McDonald's. Can I take your order, miss?

Casual Commentator (12:21)

I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack wraps. What's Snack rap? It's the return of something great. Snack wrap is back.

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