Monday's total solar eclipse may be one of the most photographed events of the year. The moon will pass in front of the sun, plunging parts of northern New England into darkness for several minutes. On Monday at 3:29 p.m., the moon will cover approximately 92.5% of the sun over much of Massachusetts. Talia Seperski, a planetarium educator at the Science Museum, explains what that means in terms of how dark it actually gets. “The skies are going to get dark,” Sepelski said. “It's going to be dim, but it's not going to be completely dark. It doesn't look like nighttime.” Sepelski said people can walk around outside without turning on the lights. “Even though it doesn't seem like there's a lot of sunlight, there's still a lot of light shining down on us,” Sepelski said. If you have a safe way to look directly at the sun, such as eclipse glasses, the sun will look like a thin crescent moon. “If you're not looking at the sun, you'll notice a difference in the light,” Sepelski said. . “The edges of the shadow will be sharper, because when the sun is a full disk, the edges of the shadow will be kind of soft.” Solar eclipses can cause strange behavior in animals In the greater Boston area, Sepelski says, we're past the threshold where animals start noticing differences in light. “It's not like anything dramatic is going to happen,” Sepelski said. “You don't see the animals panicking or anything like that. But towards the end of the day, you might hear the birds start to quiet down as usual.” says Sepelski. If you have a particular nighttime routine, you may start that routine because the dimming light signals the end of the day. “Then when the light starts to increase again on the other side of the light, they might get a little confused.”
Monday's total solar eclipse may be one of the most photographed and photographed events of the year.
The moon will pass in front of the sun, plunging parts of northern New England into several minutes of darkness.
On Monday at 3:29 p.m., the moon will cover approximately 92.5% of the sun over much of Massachusetts.
Talia Sepelsky, planetarium educator at the Science Museum, explains what that means and how dark it actually gets.
“The skies are going to be dark,” Sepelski said. “It gets dim, but it's not completely dark. It doesn't look like night.”
Sepelski said people will still be able to walk around outside without turning on the lights.
“I know 8 percent of the sun doesn't seem like a lot, but it's actually still a significant amount of light,” Sepelski said.
If you have a safe way to look directly at the sun, such as eclipse glasses, the sun will look like a thin crescent moon.
“If you're not looking at the sun, you'll notice a difference in the light,” Sepelski says. “The edges of the shadow become sharper, because when the sun becomes a full disk, the edges of the shadow become softer.”
Could a solar eclipse cause strange behavior in animals?
In the greater Boston area, we're past the threshold where animals begin to notice differences in light, Sepelski said.
“It's not like anything dramatic is going to happen,” Sepelski said. “We don't see the animals panicking or anything like that. But as we get closer to the end of the day, you might hear the birds start to quiet down as usual.”
If your pet has a particular nighttime routine, the dim light signals the end of the day and may start that routine, Sepelski said. “Then when the light starts to increase again on the other side of the light, they might get a little confused.”
