Tomorrow (August 21), the sun will put on a show that it hasn't in our area for 38 years.

Airdrie will see a partial eclipse of the sun tomorrow morning.

"From the Calgary, or for that matter Airdrie area, first contact will start at 10:20 in the morning," said Steve Donaldson, President of the Calgary Center of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, "The middle of the eclipse will occur around 11:33 in the morning, and last contact will be at about 12:50 pm."

Airdrie is outside the path of totality, so we will only experience a partial eclipse of the sun with the moon covering 77 percent of the sun. The path of totality runs from the northwest to the southeast United States, starting in Oregon and ending in South Carolina.

In Airdrie, if you have a very good eye, you might notice the sky darken to a richer shade of blue and also sharpened shadows. We probably won't see any stars come out in the morning.

Donaldson emphasized that if you do plan to view the eclipse, you need to make sure you are doing it safely. Staring directly at the sun can cause eye damage.

"It's something called - this is a fifty dollar word - solar retinopathy. This occurs when bright light from the sun floods the retina in the back of the eyeball. The retina is where the light sensing cells in our eyes are what make vision possible. When they're overstimulated by sunlight, they actually release a flood of chemicals that can damage the retina."

Donaldson explained that solar retinopathy is a painless experience, and you might not even realize the damage you are doing to your eyes. The level of damage is the same as any other time, but Donaldson explained that most days people don't have a reason to stare into the sun for minutes on end.

There are safe ways to watch the eclipse.

"Safe ways to view the eclipse are to get what's called a number 14 welder's glass. You can get those at welding specialty stores. You can also do what's called a pinhole viewer. Essentially you take a piece of cardboard or paper, you punch a tiny hole in it, and the sun shines through that hole either onto the ground or onto a screen several feet away. Basically your back will be to the sun and you'll be able to see the partially eclipsed sun through the light that comes through that pinhole."

Donaldson said at this point you are probably out of luck for buying a safe naked eye eclipse viewer, because most places are sold out.

In Calgary, Telus SPARK and the University of Calgary will both be having solar eclipse events.

 

Questions, comments or story ideas? Email us at news@discoverairdrie.com