Solar Eclipse

A solar eclipse can be one of the most dramatic of celestial events and there’s one happening on November 14th.

An eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth and Moon are lined up and we see the Moon to crossing in front of the sun. It looks like the sun is blacked out for a moment while the moon is in front of it.

The upcoming eclipse is a partial solar eclipse in New Zealand (the moon wont cover the whole sun, just a bit of it). But the further north you go the more the moon will appear to cover the sun. To see a full eclipse you’d need to be 1200kms north of New Zealand, sitting in a boat in the pacific ocean (or around where Cairns (in Australia) is).

The eclipse in Wellington will be on Wednesday November 14th between 9.26am – 11.47am, with the largest portion of sun covered (about 76%) at 10.34am.

Looking at the sun can be dangerous and harmful for our eyes. Luckily the Carter Observatory has the eclipse covered (pun!) and suggest the following ideas for viewing this cool event:

  1. Eclipse glasses (available to purchase from the Carter Observatory)
  2. Pinhole projection
  3. Welding glasses
  4. Use a telescope

Check out what the Carter Observatory has planned for the eclipse, lots of fun and learning!

Interested in Astronomy? This book has heaps of projects and things you can make and do about astronomy. Have fun spaceheads!