By Trinity Trimble

A partial solar eclipse only covers a section of the sun, making it look like there was a bite taken out of it. Photo credits @hisks at Freeimages.com

Residents of southeast Ohio will be able to view a partial annular solar eclipse on Oct. 14.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth, blocking the sun. An annular eclipse happens when the moon passes as far from the Earth as possible: this makes the moon look smaller than the sun. 

The sun is only partially blocked when the sun, Earth, and moon aren’t aligned. This causes a partial solar eclipse. Ohio is outside the range where the eclipse fully aligns, so people will only see a partial eclipse on Saturday. 

Brad Hoehne, the director of the John Glenn Astronomy Park, says, “The sun will only be about 35% covered” at its maximum. 

The eclipse will happen between 11:45 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.. It will reach its maximum around 1 p.m. 

Hoehne warns people that looking directly at the sun is dangerous. He says that to view the eclipse safely, people should use eclipse glasses or a method called projection. 

“You take a piece of aluminum foil, and you punch the tiniest little hole in the aluminum foil. Then, you make a little cardboard frame or something like that, and you hold it a few feet off of a table. You’ll see the shape of the sun pinhole projected onto the table.” 

The John Glenn Astronomy Park will be selling cardboard eclipse glasses. The park will also host a viewing program at noon tomorrow if the weather is clear. If the weather is bad, there will not be a viewing.  

No sign-up is necessary to join the partial eclipse viewing. People can watch through eclipse glasses or a solar telescope that Hoehne will provide. 

Hoehne warns that people should not use a regular telescope to look at the sun. 

“The telescope is basically a magnifying glass. We do a demonstration and sacrifice a telescope for this purpose, where we put a piece of paper on the lens. You can write your name by burning it into the piece of paper.”