Looking directly at the sun is unsafe. Even during the upcoming solar eclipse, the only safe way to look directly at the eclipsed sun is through special-purpose solar filters, such as “eclipse glasses” or other equipment that is outfitted for safely viewing the Sun. Regular sunglasses, even very dark ones, […]
Solar eclipse glasses typically need to meet two constraints: You need something which will block most of the light, and you need something that can provide structural support, so it won’t fall apart while you’re staring at the sun. Thanks to modern chemistry, most of the ‘solar eclipse glasses’ you […]
Some of us are lucky enough to live close to, or even better, in the direct path of the area of totality for the Great Solar Eclipse. Those of us that aren’t so lucky will need to travel to view totality. Communities across the nation are going all out putting together […]
Total solar eclipses are rare events. Transcontinental total solar eclipses such as the August 21 Total Solar Eclipse are rarer, still. The last total eclipse to impact the US was in 1979 and was limited to a few states in the Northwest. Just think of the impact on our lives […]
Are two eyes better than one? In the case of binoculars – with their ease of use and portability when observing the 2017 Great American Solar Eclipse – using both eyes is just the ticket. And if you already have a pair of binoculars sitting around the house, then with […]
Want to view the August 21 Solar Eclipse through a $5,000 solar telescope? Or perhaps use a high end deep-sky telescope outfitted with the latest high-end solar filter? Of course, the answer is “sure!” and of course, most of you reading this have no intention of going out and buying […]
The Total Solar Eclipse on August 21 is going to be one of the most anticipated and participated astronomical events in the last 50 years. And the good news is that you don’t have to have any special equipment to actively participate in the Eclipse. With basic household items or […]
The Revolution Imager Advanced Camera Imaging kit provides the ability for those who are new to astronomy to view and image Solar system and deep sky objects. As users advance into astro imaging it can continue to serve as a camera guider. The Revolution Imager Advanced Camera Imaging Kit features […]
Written for the first-time solar eclipse viewer, the 2017 Great American Solar Eclipse Primer offers topics and tips on viewing and imaging the eclipse without a telescope. The book was written by Anthony Galvan III (Tony) whose photographs and technical illustrations have been published by Astronomy and Sky & Telescope […]
Code Obsession Plugins are available as FITS, XISF (PixInsight) and SBIG image plugins for the Acorn image editing software. Code Obsession is the publisher of the Observatory software program which is a full-featured Mac application (Observatory requires macOS 10.11+) for collecting and curating astronomical images. Whether a user is a […]
Eclipse Safari is a comprehensive and interactive guide to the August 21, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse of the Sun, visible along a narrow path spanning the USA from the West coast to the East coast. It’s a free app developed by the makers of the SkySafari 5 astronomy app in […]
The SkyWatcher Star Adventurer Mini (SAM) is a high precision, portable and stable tracking platform for sidereal, solar and lunar tracking with automatic DSLR shutter release control. It is small and light enough to easily fit into a camera bag or backpack, making it an ideal mount for the photographer […]