Robes de Coeur
  • Blog
  • Quilting
  • Clothing
    • Menswear
    • Womenswear >
      • Self-Made Patterns
      • Commercial Patterns
    • Hats
    • Miscellany
  • About
  • Blog
  • Quilting
  • Clothing
    • Menswear
    • Womenswear >
      • Self-Made Patterns
      • Commercial Patterns
    • Hats
    • Miscellany
  • About

Solar Eclipse!

8/21/2017

2 Comments

 
Picture

As you may recall from my About page, I live in Portland, Oregon.  Today in Portland, we had a really clear and perfect day for viewing the solar eclipse that crossed North America.  While we were not in the path of totality, we did get 99.2% obscuration of the sun by the moon.  I was outside for the peak of it (10-10:30 am).  Here are the highlights (or lowlights, to be more apt). 

SOLAR GLASSES

The past few days in Portland, people have been frantically searching for any retailer that sells solar viewing glasses.  Or being glad that they already have theirs.  Or realizing with dismay that their glasses aren't certified.  Or buying up dozens and scalping them to the desperate.  (First World problems, I know!)  I had my glasses already, and they were real ones, so that was a relief.  But actually, it isn't that fun to look through them... they make the whole sky black, and the sun appears as a small orange circle, like a glowing cigarette end.  You can see very clearly the sun being obscured, but it doesn't look real.  So for me, at least, they were a novelty, not integral to the experience. 
Picture
A woman using the glasses

PINHOLE PROJECTOR

I made myself a pinhole projector to see the solar eclipse on a piece of paper.  Making the projector was super simple: I took a bit of cardstock from a soda box and poked a hole in its center with a pin.  Then I held it between the sun and a piece of paper, so the shadow of the projector fell on the paper, and there, in the pinhole, was the image of the eclipse. 
Picture
Any pinhole will do... look at the crescent of the sun in the center of the paper's shadow and in the little hole between my fingers!
The way it works is presumably simple as well, but I don't fully understand it.  The sun shines on a piece of paper.  If something gets in between the sun and the paper, there's a shadow.  Well, during a partial eclipse, the moon gets between the sun and the whole earth, but there's enough ambient light that the paper is still fully lit.  But if you put the pinhole projector between the sun and the paper, the shadow of the projector falls on the paper, and the light of the sun only goes through the pinhole, making a bright pinhole spot on the paper.  When the sun goes through the pinhole, it shows its obscured-by-the-moon self to the paper because there isn't room for the light to disperse.  Why it shows up upside-down and backward, I don't understand at all...!  According to Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO), it's because light has to travel in straight lines.  But I don't see how light traveling in straight lines through a little hole makes an image flip. 

BEAUTIFUL SHADOWS

What I wasn't expecting was that this pinhole projection effect is found in the shadows of trees, as well!  (HartRAO explains that, as well, but I didn't know it before the eclipse.)  It was really cool to see the shadows on the sidewalk near me, and to see how they corresponded with the image on my paper.  Here are two sets of images: the sun before 99.2% obscuration, and the sun afterward:
Picture
sun-sliver on left, moon on right
Picture
lovely tree shadows show the same configuration
Picture
moon on left, sun-sliver on right
Picture

99.2%!

All around me, people stared upward with their solar glasses, but I liked to see the world around me, instead.  As the moon covered nearly all the sun, several things happened at once: the daylight dimmed to a strange gloaming or twilight; the air got colder and I got goosebumps; strange fluttery waves of light and shadow, very subtle, danced on the sidewalk; and people and animals alike grew silent. 
Picture

This picture on the left came out brighter than it should have, but you can at least see that the lights inside the little food cart are brighter than the day outside. 

And below you can see the ethereal beauty of a Julia Child Rose in the amber light. 
Picture

AFTERWARD

As the sun began to show itself again, the air warmed up, and people started to disperse.  Most talked happily about how cool it was, except for a few who were determined to be unimpressed.  One weird aftereffect was that several people mentioned feeling a little lightheaded and weird.  I felt the same... like I was a little off-balance.  I wasn't sure whether it was because of the eclipse or the fact that I was up late last night and early this morning, but several others couldn't all have that excuse.  It didn't last long, at any rate. 

Overall, a very fascinating experience! 
2 Comments
momsydoodle
8/26/2017 06:34:46 am

What amazing pictures you took of the trees and shadows! While everyone was looking at something they could see much better (and safer) on youtube, they missed the beauty around them that you were able to see, photograph, and post. That was a true observation. Nice perspective.

Reply
The Sister
8/26/2017 12:23:11 pm

I love the picture of the rose... I'm not sure at what point before/during/or after the eclipse you took that photo, but it is glowing!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Karen Roy

    Quilting, dressmaking, and history plied with the needle...

    Categories

    All
    1910's
    Alteration
    Antique
    Dyeing
    Embroidery
    General
    Hand Sewing
    History
    Lacemaking
    Mending
    Menswear
    Millinery
    Modern Elizabethan
    Musing
    Other Sewing
    Philippians 4:8
    Project Diary
    Quilting
    Regency
    Retro
    Self Made Pattern
    Self-made Pattern
    Terminology
    Victorian
    Vintage

    Blogs I Read

    The Dreamstress
    Male Pattern Boldness
    ​
    Lilacs & Lace
    Tom of Holland
    Fit for a Queen
    Line of Selvage
    Mainely Menswear
    Bernadette Banner

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    RSS Feed

Blog

Quilting

Clothing

About

Copyright Karen Roy
​© 2017-2022