I wish to share some things and experiments we can do during solar eclipse. Annular solar eclipse is a rare astronomical event because eclipses don’t happen daily. Solar eclipse occurs when Moon comes in between the Sun and Earth. Annular solar eclipse occurs when moon is far away from Earth in its elliptical orbit and comes in between the Sun and Earth. Due to the relative sizes of the Moon and the Sun during annular solar eclipse, we can see Ring of Fire.
And solar eclipse usually occurs two weeks prior or after the occurrence of lunar eclipse. The last lunar eclipse was on June 5. The annular solar eclipse on Saturday will begin at 9:15 am and the full eclipse will start from 10:17 am with the maximum eclipse occurring at 12:10 pm at Delhi. And timings of the eclipse slightly varies for different places at where we can see eclipse. For that timing to know at your particular place, go to www.timeanddate.com and please check there. There are also other websites which can help you in this regard if you wish you can also those websites.
This is my first topic that I created if there is any mistakes, please correct me. If any of the members got soms ideas to do during this eclipse, please feel free to add, together we can enjoy more science during eclipse. And if possible post some pics of the eclipse that you took during this eclipse. And use protective glasses as recommended to watch this eclipse. And don’t miss this wonderful event. I will share that I wished to do.
Taking a snap of Crescent Images
Observing whether acceleration due to gravity of Earth changes or does not change by measuring it during eclipse
Observing whether there is change in brightness during eclipse or not by measuring it during eclipse
Observing the behavior of animals
Observing the change in the temperature of atmosphere during eclipse
Of course, observing this rare astronomical event, annular solar eclipse, with specified guidelines and protection and do not miss Ring of Fire
I will add how to do these things one by one. If any of the members got a different way than my way to do this, please share your way. I will be very interested to know that. Let’s have some good STEM Chat regarding eclipse and after all do not miss this wonderful and rare astronomical event.
1. Taking a Snap of Crescent Images During This Annular Solar Eclipse
Well, you can do this easily. First you have to find some good tree having so many leaves and observe its shadow. Observe the shadow carefully during eclipse. You will observe some changes in the shadow of tree during eclipse, take a snap of that shadows which have changes due to eclipse with the help of camera of smartphone or you can use a normal camera or DSLR Camera as your wish. That’s it. You will have the crescent images that you got during this eclipse. Well, let’s get to the science part.
The effect that created these crescent images is similar to that used in pinhole cameras. A pinhole camera is one without a lens but with a small hole on one side. Light passes through the hole and projects an inverted image on the other side of the box, a phenomenon called the pinhole effect.
Mr Albert Ho, president of the Astronomical Society of Singapore, said that the pinhole effect actually occurs regularly. “The light from the sun passing through gaps in leaves and objects can project a round image of the sun every day. It is because of the solar eclipse, which projects a different light pattern, that people noticed it on the ground,” he said.
I got some of the points here from an article which I used as reference. I will share the link of that article. If anyone is interested, please go through that article. It is a good article.
2. Observing Whether Acceleration Due to Gravity of Earth Changes or Does Not Change by Measuring it During Eclipse
There are some methods to measure acceleration due to gravity of Earth. I will mention here one method. In this method, we measure acceleration due to gravity of Earth by Smartphone.
Step 1: Download Science Journal app. Here is the link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.forscience.whistlepunk
Step 2: Open the app. Click on the add icon that you find at the bottom right of the screen.
Step 3: Then untitled experiment is opened. Touch the icon next to the left of the camera icon
Step 4: Then you can see some icons get appeared…Scroll the icons that got appeared to left and click the z icon. Then place your smartphone flat to some flat surface.
Step 5: You see a card below the icons and you can see some measurements measured by your accelerometer. That measurements are the values of the acceleration due to gravity of Earth made by your accelerometer.
Step 6: You can find an icon coloured red at the bottom of the screen. Use it record the observations during eclipse. And find out whether there is change or not. All the best.
I will attach the screenshots. If you have any queries, please feel free to ask me. I am happy to help if I can.
Observing Whether There Is Change in the Brightness or Not by Measuring it During Solar Eclipse
There are some methods to measure the brightness. I will mention one method here where we can measure the brightness using smartphone.
Step 2: Open the app. And click the add icon that you can find at the bottom right of the screen.
Step 3: A untitled experiment will open. Then click the icon next to the right of the camera icon.
Step 4: A series of icons then appear. Then click the icon that appears like a
glowing bulb.
Step 5: Go to some open place where the sun rays can fall better to measure the brightness and I hope there are not any clouds covering Sun at that time, in that case only we can measure the brightness during eclipse. After that click the red-coloured icon at the bottom of the card that appears after clicking the glowing bulb icon and record the measurements using that red-coloured icon during solar eclipse.
Step 6: Now you will get the data. Find out whether there is change or not in the brightness during eclipse. All the best.
I will attach the screenshots. If you have any queries, please feel free to ask. I will happy to help if I can.
As it is reported that there is change in the behaviour of some animals briefly during solar eclipse. Anecdotal evidence suggests that orb-weaving spiders destroy their webs during an eclipse. modern astronomers and eclipse chasers have also reported wild and domestic animals noticeably reacting to eclipses. The data regarding this effect of change in the behavior of animals during solar eclipse is hard to obtain.
Well, to collect data regarding the change in the behavior of the animals that people observe during solar eclipse at different parts of the world, a smartphone app named iNaturalist.
This iNaturalist app is created by Life Responds team. The data collected with the help of this app is used by biologists and astrologers for the studies regarding this effect. As it will be near impossible to collect the data regarding this effect by a researcher who for supposed dedicated his life to observe this effect because considering solar eclipses occurs at different parts of the world and there are some protocols which should be taken. And the number of solar eclipses occurs very few ranges from 3 to 5.
The people who are interested in contributing to this research can contribute through iNaturalist app. The Life Responds team recommends that people who want to take part scout out in advance where they will be watching the eclipse and think about which animals will be around them. For instance, if you happen to be in a suburban backyard or city park, you may be best able to report on urban invertebrates such as ants and spiders.
Observing the Change in the Temperature During Eclipse
Well, you can use a lab thermometer or digital thermometer for this purpose. Go to some open place where sun rays fall on the thermometer freely and note down the reading of the thermometer and time at that time of recording. And observe thermometer during eclipse, if there is any change in the reading suddenly, note down the reading and time at that time of reading. According to theory, there is gradual decrease in the temperature at the peak of the eclipse and after that you will see a gradual increase in the temperature.
Frome the readings that you got and timings also that you noted at the time of the reading. Find out the peak time of the eclipse at your place using some websites like www.timeanddate.com and then check whether there is any change in the reading of thermometer around that peak time. And finally you can also observe the entire readings and find out whether is there is gradual decrease in the temperature at some time and gradual increase in temperature at some time or not. And finally do not miss this wonderful rare astronomical event. All the best. And I got from the news that New Delhi will be dark for some time at the peak of the eclipse and if that happens, you can see a good change in temperature and brightness if you do the things I mentioned. Don’t miss the “Ring of Fire”.
