4 Jun 2021

The Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics and Discover the Universe have been working on sharing educational information and safety glasses in preparation for the June 10, 2021 Solar Eclipse.

An Annular Solar Eclipse will take place in the early morning hours of June 10, and is best viewed in Ontario, Quebec, and Nunavut. An ‘annular’ eclipse occurs as the moon passes in front of the sun, causing a ring of light to appear in the sky. Solar eclipses happen about once or twice a year, but this one is unique to our part of the world. Due to the nature of an annular eclipse, safety viewing glasses (or eclipse glasses) are required for direct observation. The visible light from the sun can cause ocular damage if looked at directly. 

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Background

Beginning in February, the Dunlap Institute and Discover the Universe began preparing for the eclipse by ordering safety glasses to give away to anyone in the areas where the eclipse would best be observed (the path of annularity). Discover the Universe, being an educational program, also prepared kits to mail out to people in remote communities.

In April, we mailed out 267 educational kits to communities within the path of annularity, delivering them to schools, classrooms, and community groups. There was such interest in safety glasses, that Discover the Universe decided to launch an Eclipse Challenge! Members of the public are being challenged to use a projection method to safely observe the eclipse even without glasses. By letting the sunlight pass through a hole, onto a screen, the eclipse can be seen without directly looking at it.