Partial Solar Eclipse on June 21, 2020


First of all, my apologies for the long absence from this blog.  With the shift from ECQ to GCQ in Metro Manila, I have been busy with my day job and with other concerns.  I imagine that the kids will soon be resuming school (in whatever form "school" will take in the current situation), and keeping them busy will be less of a concern by then.  But every now and then, I will still be posting about fun educational activities for kids of all ages to try.  I enjoyed accompanying all of you these past months, and I hope that in one way or another I have been able to help you all ensure that learning and fun does not end, even during lockdown.

One of the activities I featured in this blog is learning about outer space.  This coming Sunday, June 21, 2020, there will be a partial solar eclipse at 3:01 PM (Philippine time).  Observing this natural phenomenon will be a valuable opportunity for you and your children to learn about outer space. 

Weather permitting, the Manila Street Astronomers (MSA) will be hosting a virtual observing of the partial solar eclipse.  Meaning, some MSA members who have telescopes and solar filters will be broadcasting the view from their telescopes via Facebook live at the Facebook page of the MSA.  The eclipse itself will start at 3:01PM, but at 1:30PM, there will be talks about how to safely observe a partial solar eclipse and on the science behind eclipses.

Safety is very important.  DO NOT LOOK AT THE ECLIPSE DIRECTLY, and in particular, DO NOT LOOK AT THE ECLIPSE THROUGH BINOCULARS IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE PROPER SOLAR FILTERS.  Rather, use Number 14 welders glass so that you can look at the sun, or project an image of the sun on a flat surface using a pinhole (literally just make a hole in a piece of paper or cardboard using a pin and use that hole to project the image.  DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN THROUGH THE PINHOLE). 

Let's all hope and pray for clear weather on June 21! 

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