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View Full Version : Re: Is it safe to look naked-eye at the diamond necklace stage of an


Dirk Bruere at Neopax
Apr6-05, 08:41 PM
<jabberwocky><div class="vbmenu_control"><a href="jabberwocky:;" onClick="newWindow=window.open('','usenetCode','toolbar=no, location=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,status=no ,width=650,height=400'); newWindow.document.write('<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Usenet ASCII</TITLE></HEAD><BODY topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 BGCOLOR=#F1F1F1><table border=0 width=625><td bgcolor=midnightblue><font color=#F1F1F1>This Usenet message\'s original ASCII form: </font></td></tr><tr><td width=449><br><br><font face=courier><UL><PRE>esperanto@gmail.com wrote:\n\n&gt; Hi there!\n&gt;\n&gt; I live in Panama. I will watch the April 8, 2005 hybrid Eclipse in\n&gt; Penonome, a town placed in the middle of Panama, almost exactly in the\n&gt; center of the shadow path.\n&gt;\n&gt; In Space.com I read: "So just before the transition from annular to\n&gt; total and later, just after the transition from total back to annular,\n&gt; the eclipse will become something neither annular nor total: it will be\n&gt; a broken annular. As lunar mountains protrude onto the hairline-thin\n&gt; ring of the Sun, it will be seen not as an unbroken ring but an\n&gt; irregular, changing, sparkling sequence of arcs, beads and diamonds\n&gt; very briefly encircling the Moon: a "diamond necklace" effect! This is\n&gt; a spectacle that viewers in the Panama and possibly Costa Rica might\n&gt; see."\n&gt; Reference: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/050401_solar_eclipse.html\n&gt;\n&gt; My question is: during these brief seconds of "anularity" or whatever,\n&gt; during which the diamond necklace can be seen, is it safe to look at\n&gt; the sun directly?\n&gt;\n&gt; I know that for the rest of the event, looking directly naked-eye is a\n&gt; sure recipe for blindness. But during the "necklace" part of the show,\n&gt; can I look directly safely?\n\nWell, I\'ve looked at the full noonday sun full on, eyes open, quite a number of\ntimes in my life and still don\'t need a guide dog. Then again, it was only for a\nfew seconds, usually less than three before my eyes closed by reflex. For short\nperiods it\'s not the sure-fire way to instant eye damage it has been hyped up to be.\n\nWhat *is* dangerous is looking through darkened glass or plastic that is\n(unwittingly) transparent to IR. Then there is no indication of potential damage\nuntil the burns start to appear.\n\n--\nDirk\n\nThe Consensus:-\nThe political party for the new millenium\nhttp://www.theconsensus.org\n\n</UL></PRE></font></td></tr></table></BODY><HTML>');"> <IMG SRC=/images/buttons/ip.gif BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER ALT="View this Usenet post in original ASCII form">&nbsp;&nbsp;View this Usenet post in original ASCII form </a></div><P></jabberwocky>esperanto@gmail.com wrote:

> Hi there!
>
> I live in Panama. I will watch the April 8, 2005 hybrid Eclipse in
> Penonome, a town placed in the middle of Panama, almost exactly in the
> center of the shadow path.
>
> In Space.com I read: "So just before the transition from annular to
> total and later, just after the transition from total back to annular,
> the eclipse will become something neither annular nor total: it will be
> a broken annular. As lunar mountains protrude onto the hairline-thin
> ring of the Sun, it will be seen not as an unbroken ring but an
> irregular, changing, sparkling sequence of arcs, beads and diamonds
> very briefly encircling the Moon: a "diamond necklace" effect! This is
> a spectacle that viewers in the Panama and possibly Costa Rica might
> see."
> Reference: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/050401_solar_eclipse.html
>
> My question is: during these brief seconds of "anularity" or whatever,
> during which the diamond necklace can be seen, is it safe to look at
> the sun directly?
>
> I know that for the rest of the event, looking directly naked-eye is a
> sure recipe for blindness. But during the "necklace" part of the show,
> can I look directly safely?

Well, I've looked at the full noonday sun full on, eyes open, quite a number of
times in my life and still don't need a guide dog. Then again, it was only for a
few seconds, usually less than three before my eyes closed by reflex. For short
periods it's not the sure-fire way to instant eye damage it has been hyped up to be.

What *is* dangerous is looking through darkened glass or plastic that is
(unwittingly) transparent to IR. Then there is no indication of potential damage
until the burns start to appear.

--
Dirk

The Consensus:-
The political party for the new millenium
http://www.theconsensus.org