1 00:00:00,030 --> 00:00:04,040 [slate] 2 00:00:04,060 --> 00:00:08,070 [slate] 3 00:00:08,090 --> 00:00:12,140 Well on August 21st something 4 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:16,210 really wonderful happens and it's actually rather simple. The moon is going to move in front of the sun 5 00:00:16,230 --> 00:00:20,310 and block out the sun's light. And wherever you are in the United States you're going to 6 00:00:20,330 --> 00:00:24,480 see something really unusual. A lot of people will see a partial eclipse where only part 7 00:00:24,500 --> 00:00:28,570 of the sun is blocked out. If you're lucky enough you'll be in the path of totality 8 00:00:28,590 --> 00:00:32,650 where the entirety of the sun is blocked out. What's really going is the moon is casting 9 00:00:32,670 --> 00:00:36,800 its shadow down on the Earth. And this shadow is going to start crossing the United States 10 00:00:36,820 --> 00:00:40,940 around about in Oregon. Move all the way across and actually exit in South Carolina. 11 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:45,020 So there are millions of people underneath that shadow that are going to 12 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:49,090 they're all going to have a chance to see something really spectacular. 13 00:00:49,110 --> 00:00:53,280 [Second SOT no graphics] Well a wonderful thing is happening on August 21st and it's actually very 14 00:00:53,300 --> 00:00:57,350 simple. The moon is going to move in front of the sun and block out the sun's light. 15 00:00:57,370 --> 00:01:01,470 And that means that moon is actually going to be casting a shadow down on the Earth. And we 16 00:01:01,490 --> 00:01:05,610 been incredibly lucky because here in the United States that shadow goes all the way across the 17 00:01:05,630 --> 00:01:09,660 continental United States. It starts in Oregon and goes out in South Carolina. 18 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:13,710 Even if you're not in that path of totality where the shadow is completely 19 00:01:13,730 --> 00:01:17,790 blocking out the sun, you can still participate in something called a partial eclipse. 20 00:01:17,810 --> 00:01:21,910 where the moon is blocking out some of the light from the sun. So everybody in North 21 00:01:21,930 --> 00:01:26,100 America on August 21st has the chance to see something really 22 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:30,110 unique and incredibly special. 23 00:01:30,130 --> 00:01:34,250 [slate] 24 00:01:34,270 --> 00:01:38,360 Well that's right, it's dangerous to look at the sun even if it's a partial eclipse, even if most of the 25 00:01:38,380 --> 00:01:42,530 sun is covered. If any bit of the solar surface is still showing don't look at it. 26 00:01:42,550 --> 00:01:46,590 One of the things you can do is have a safe pair of eclipse viewing glasses. And these actually 27 00:01:46,610 --> 00:01:50,660 are safe to look directly at the sun through. So that's one way to do it. If you can't get 28 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,780 safety eclipse glasses, there are ways you can project the sun down onto the ground and 29 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,950 look at it. Just a simple pinhole. Just hold something up with a small 30 00:01:58,970 --> 00:02:03,060 pinhole through it and let the sun shine through it onto the ground and you'll see a projection 31 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:07,220 of what the sun looks like. You can do that looking down at the bottom of a box too with a pinhole through it. 32 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:11,270 One of the easiest ways that I know to do it is just simply make tiny little holes 33 00:02:11,290 --> 00:02:15,330 by crossing your fingers together. Let the sun shine down your fingers 34 00:02:15,350 --> 00:02:19,410 Look at what's happening on the ground and you'll see an image of the eclipse being 35 00:02:19,430 --> 00:02:23,530 projected. [second SOT no graphics] Well that's right, it's always 36 00:02:23,550 --> 00:02:27,680 dangerous to look at part of the exposed surface of the sun. It'll burn your eyes. 37 00:02:27,700 --> 00:02:31,740 So one of the things you can do is get yourself a safe pair of eclipse viewing glasses. 38 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,820 If you have these on you can actually look up in the sky directly at the sun and you'll be protected 39 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,940 But if you don't have a pair of eclipse viewing glasses there are other ways you can do this 40 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:44,060 too. And the simplest way that i know to do it is to simply make a pinhole in something. 41 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:48,250 Poke a hole in something, it can be a piece of cardboard. You can actually take your hands 42 00:02:48,270 --> 00:02:52,310 cross your fingers together and make lots of little holes between your fingers. Let the light 43 00:02:52,330 --> 00:02:56,430 shine down through that pinhole and look down on the ground below you 44 00:02:56,450 --> 00:03:00,580 and you will actually see a focused image of the sun. As the moon moves in front of the 45 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:04,630 sun, you'll see the sun turn into a crescent and actually change shape. So 46 00:03:04,650 --> 00:03:08,670 wherever you are it's very very simple to observe the eclipse, simply let the sun shine 47 00:03:08,690 --> 00:03:12,760 through a pinhole and you can watch it all happen down on the ground below you. 48 00:03:12,780 --> 00:03:16,800 [slate] 49 00:03:16,820 --> 00:03:20,850 Well that's right if you're lucky enough to be in that rather narrow 50 00:03:20,870 --> 00:03:24,930 strip only about 65 miles across you can actually take off 51 00:03:24,950 --> 00:03:29,010 your glasses during the peak of the eclipse. What you're going to see is 52 00:03:29,030 --> 00:03:34,080 the moon will slowly start moving in front of the sun blocking out more and more. This 53 00:03:34,100 --> 00:03:38,150 something called the diamond ring effect where there's a little of light shining still. Once this is one 54 00:03:38,170 --> 00:03:42,210 you will actually something called the corona, the atmosphere of the sun. 55 00:03:42,230 --> 00:03:46,270 At this point it's safe to take off your eclipse glasses, but be sure to put them back on 56 00:03:46,290 --> 00:03:50,410 again when even a little bit of the solar surface comes out on the other side. 57 00:03:50,430 --> 00:03:54,560 But when the moon is entirely blocking the sun and you can see the corona 58 00:03:54,580 --> 00:03:58,610 definitely take off your glasses. This is the only time you can safely look 59 00:03:58,630 --> 00:04:02,800 at the sun directly in the sky. [Second SOT no graphics] At 60 00:04:02,820 --> 00:04:06,880 first you'll see the moon moving in front of the sun more and more, and through your safe eclipse 61 00:04:06,900 --> 00:04:10,980 glasses you can watch the sun becoming more and more crescent shaped. But then 62 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:15,100 finally when the moon entirely covers up the sun, you'll actually be able to see something 63 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:19,270 called the solar corona. This is the outer atmosphere of the sun, it's actually 64 00:04:19,290 --> 00:04:27,120 a wonderful million degree cloud of gas that can form wonderful 65 00:04:27,140 --> 00:04:31,190 tendrils and shapes because of the sun's magnetic field. Take off your glasses at this point and actually enjoy seeing the solar corona around the sun. 66 00:04:31,210 --> 00:04:35,290 The moon will slowly move off the sun and as soon as it does put 67 00:04:35,310 --> 00:04:39,430 your eclipse glasses back on. Even if there's a tiny little bit of the sun's surface showing 68 00:04:39,450 --> 00:04:43,620 it's not safe. But this is amazing, there really is going to be a time for about two and a half minutes 69 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:47,690 where you can look directly at the sun and it will be one of the most spectacular shows you've ever 70 00:04:47,710 --> 00:04:51,740 seen. 71 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,910 [slate] Well of course there are many more people 72 00:04:55,930 --> 00:04:59,960 in the United States that are going to be seeing a partial eclipse that aren't actually in the path of totality. 73 00:04:59,980 --> 00:05:04,020 But that doesn't mean you're going to be miss out on some really wonderful things. One of the things you'll 74 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:08,120 notice during the day, is if you can actually see the sun using either eclipse glasses 75 00:05:08,140 --> 00:05:12,290 or projection device, you can see the shape of the sun change. 76 00:05:12,310 --> 00:05:16,330 Here you can see the moon is blocking out the sun. One of my favorite things to do is look 77 00:05:16,350 --> 00:05:20,430 at a tree with lots of leaves. Look and see how the sunlight is filtering 78 00:05:20,450 --> 00:05:24,520 down onto the ground through the leaves. The leaves are making lots of tiny little pinhole 79 00:05:24,540 --> 00:05:28,660 cameras and projecting images of the sun. So all day long, the whole thing 80 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,870 it takes about four hours from start to finish. You can see the moon start to move in front of 81 00:05:32,890 --> 00:05:36,950 the sun. And even if it never completely covers it up, you'll notice the sky going 82 00:05:36,970 --> 00:05:41,050 darker, you'll notice shadows changes and hopefully you have a pinhole camera and you can 83 00:05:41,070 --> 00:05:45,250 actually watch the shape of the sun change. [Second SOT no graphics] 84 00:05:45,270 --> 00:05:49,320 There are far more people in the United States that are going to be experiencing a partial eclipse and this can 85 00:05:49,340 --> 00:05:53,380 also be really fascinating. For one thing you can actually view it with your eclipse glasses if you have 86 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:57,480 happen to have them. Directly looking at the moon moving in front of the sun. But if you 87 00:05:57,500 --> 00:06:01,680 don't have eclipse glasses you can make one of these projection cameras. Simple get a pinhole 88 00:06:01,700 --> 00:06:05,850 to let the sunshine through it and actually want an image of the sun 89 00:06:05,870 --> 00:06:09,910 indeed change from the projection. One of the favorite things I like to 90 00:06:09,930 --> 00:06:14,020 for is a tree and if you can see sunlight filtering through the leaves of the tree 91 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:18,180 on the ground you'll notice that the shapes of the shadows are changing. So there 92 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:22,240 are many ways you can observe really wonderful changes going on all around you. And that 93 00:06:22,260 --> 00:06:26,320 a really simple way to participate in the eclipse is that NASA will have several live television 94 00:06:26,340 --> 00:06:30,430 broadcasts from across the country. So you can actually tune in 95 00:06:30,450 --> 00:06:34,560 to people who are in the path of totality and see what's going on there. So for that 96 00:06:34,580 --> 00:06:38,730 NASA.gov/eclipselive and all day long 97 00:06:38,750 --> 00:06:42,780 we're going to be having wonderful coverage of the eclipse. 98 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,970 [slate] 99 00:06:46,990 --> 00:06:51,050 I've been lucky enough to see two total eclipses of the sun. I've seen one in Egypt and one 100 00:06:51,070 --> 00:06:55,140 in Siberia. And although I'm a scientist and of course I understand what's going on 101 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:59,260 it really doesn't prepare you for how beautiful these things are. 102 00:06:59,280 --> 00:07:03,480 When the moon entirely covers up the sun and you see the solar corona 103 00:07:03,500 --> 00:07:07,570 this is a gorgeous, complex structure. The atmosphere of the sun 104 00:07:07,590 --> 00:07:11,640 that's being influenced by the magnetic field of the sun. You see this dark, hold 105 00:07:11,660 --> 00:07:15,790 in the sky where the sun should be. These streamers of corona coming out 106 00:07:15,810 --> 00:07:19,970 You may actually even see prominences, these wonderful giant loops of 107 00:07:19,990 --> 00:07:24,050 gas above the sun's surface. You can actually see those around the edge 108 00:07:24,070 --> 00:07:28,150 of the moon. You can see the planets Mercury and Venus out next to the sun. 109 00:07:28,170 --> 00:07:32,300 You can see the bright stars around the sun. And all around you 110 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:36,490 360 degrees you see a sunset. There's nothing like that 111 00:07:36,510 --> 00:07:40,550 ever happens besides a total solar eclipse. The first time I saw one 112 00:07:40,570 --> 00:07:44,650 it was almost like looking up into the sky of a different world. This wasn't 113 00:07:44,670 --> 00:07:48,810 the sky that Earth should have. It affects you deeply. I really think 114 00:07:48,830 --> 00:07:52,870 that you owe it to yourself sometime in your lifetime. Maybe not next week, but maybe someday later 115 00:07:52,890 --> 00:07:56,900 do see a total solar eclipse. 116 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:01,050 [Second SOT no graphics] It's really hard to describe how profound seeing a total eclipse of the sun 117 00:08:01,070 --> 00:08:05,140 is. The sky actually goes dark during the day and you look up and 118 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:09,250 at the sky and you see the completely covered sun. It's like there's a black 119 00:08:09,270 --> 00:08:13,360 hole in the sky and there are these streamers of corona coming out from it 120 00:08:13,380 --> 00:08:17,520 you can actually see the planets Mercury and Venus next to the sun. You can see 121 00:08:17,540 --> 00:08:21,570 the bright stars above you and all the way around you there's a sunset. 122 00:08:21,590 --> 00:08:25,700 360 degrees. There's nothing like that ever 123 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,820 except a total eclipse of the sun. The first time I saw one which was actually 124 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:33,970 in Egypt, it was almost like looking up into the sky of another world. It was 125 00:08:33,990 --> 00:08:38,050 felt wonderful but also kind of spooky, it affects you. 126 00:08:38,070 --> 00:08:42,140 It actually gives you goose bumps. So I have to say this is actually more 127 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:46,240 profound and emotionally resonant than you might think. I think that 128 00:08:46,260 --> 00:08:50,380 if I had advice to anybody, no matter you are, sometime in your life, 129 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:54,380 try to get yourself to a total eclipse of the sun. It actually will change you. 130 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:58,400 [slate] 131 00:08:58,420 --> 00:09:02,450 Well the best place to go is 132 00:09:02,470 --> 00:09:06,490 NASA has set up this wonderful website with safety tips, viewing tips, maps 133 00:09:06,510 --> 00:09:10,600 Go to eclipse2017.nasa.gov. 134 00:09:10,620 --> 00:09:14,690 You can find out all sorts of things like the science that NASA is doing around 135 00:09:14,710 --> 00:09:18,740 this eclipse. Where there are local events like libraries and museums near you 136 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:22,790 that you can participate in. This is a wonderful one-stop-shopping place 137 00:09:22,810 --> 00:09:26,920 to find out everything you need to know about the eclipse. 138 00:09:26,940 --> 00:09:31,070 [Second SOT no graphics] Well NASA has set up a really wonderful website. There are tips 139 00:09:31,090 --> 00:09:35,250 about how to view the eclipse. There are maps of where the different shapes of the shadow 140 00:09:35,270 --> 00:09:39,290 are going to be. There are links to all kinds of local events that are going on at libraries or 141 00:09:39,310 --> 00:09:43,370 museums or zoos. So for all of that go to eclipse2017.nasa.gov 142 00:09:43,390 --> 00:09:47,570 .nasa.gov. So you should be able to find out everything 143 00:09:47,590 --> 00:09:51,471 you need there. We've set it up so that all your questions will be answered.