Ready for Some Shade?

As the shadow of the moon grew larger and the sky darkened, ancient people thought heavenly beasts were attacking the sun. 

“People were startled that the sun was being eaten by the moon,” says Diane Turnshek, lecturer in the Department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon University and the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh. “They didn’t know what was going on. To the average person, it was terrifying.” 

What scared us centuries ago now thrills us, and anyone with a few minutes to spare in the middle of the afternoon on April 8 will experience one of the most complete eclipses this region has seen in years. The moon will shadow areas from Texas to Maine, and Pittsburgh is almost in the path of total darkness. The shadow will be wider than in 2017, due to the moon being near perigee (the moon’s closest point to Earth). Lunar shadows won’t occur in the U.S. again until 2044.

Carnegie Science Center has had April 8, 2024, circled on its calendar for a while, and has a full slate of programming wrapped around the eclipse. Visitors will have access to viewing areas outside and throughout the building, and Science Center presenters will be on hand to demonstrate eclipse science. The recently renovated Buhl Planetarium will host additional programming to illustrate the astronomical dance of the sun, moon, and Earth.  Solar observing telescopes will have screens to project the images. The complete eclipse event will occur over about two and half hours, with maximum totality at 3:17 p.m. 

 “We encourage people to be here,” says Amanda Iwaniec, director of theater experiences at the Science Center. “If the weather is awesome, we encourage everybody to go outside and watch with the safety of their viewing glasses. We’ll make safe pinhole viewers using recyclables like cereal boxes or cardboard boxes.”

Anyone can make use of the pinhole technique of indirect viewing. This keeps your eyes away from sunlight while still observing the crescent shapes that form as the moon covers the sun. But there are plenty of other easy—and safe—ways to experience the eclipse. 

Looking down at the ground, take a kitchen colander and hold it out to let the sunlight stream through it. The tiny holes will spread crescent shapes around your feet. Or you can spread your fingers apart, put one hand over the other, and extend your arms so the sunlight goes through your fingers onto the ground in eclipse shapes. Because leaves also filter light, look at the ground near a tree to see hundreds of mini eclipses. Pinhole techniques make sure that you never look directly at the sun.

All viewers, of course, need to exercise a great deal of caution to ensure they are being safe. Never stare directly at the eclipse with the unprotected eye.

“Direct intense sunlight can burn things on the sidewalk using a magnifying lens. A lens in your eye can focus that intensity the same way, but onto your retina. That can create the potential for damage,” says Chris Hartenstine, public engagement team lead for NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

 Pittsburgh will experience 97.3 percent of totality. That’s just a tiny wedge away from being the whole thing. The nearly 3 percent difference means Steel City stargazers won’t be engulfed by the full shadow of the moon, but they will get some interesting sensations. They’ll feel a slight temperature drop of a few degrees. With the dimming of sunlight in the middle of the day, birds may chirp as if it’s twilight. There will be curious changes as the light shifts.

  “As you approach totality, you’ll notice that shadows and light seem to sharpen,” says Hartenstine. “You get a thin amount of direct light in a single straight line, so you notice an ethereal feel to the light. It looks weird.” 

“Things look eerie,” adds Turnshek. “It’s not the usual cloud moving in front of the sun.” 

 For some, it’s the Super Bowl for data collection. A group of 21 faculty, staff, and students from University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University will travel to Texas to experience eclipse totality. Balloons will be launched to observe atmospheric data and the mysterious shadow bands that are seen for only a few minutes before and after totality. Calling themselves the “Shadow Bandits,” these researchers will then pool their data with NASA project participants nationwide.

It’s a sweet spot of celestial geometry that gives the Earth, moon, and sun the perfect lineup for a total eclipse. Everyone gets to be explorers watching our local star momentarily be covered over by our nearest neighbor in space. 

Brad Peroney, director of public and community programming at the Science Center, recalls the 2017 eclipse, when cooperative August weather brought people to the Science Center by the thousands. 

 Though not in the path of totality, Peroney says that the 2017 eclipse created a sense of community among the observers that day. “It’s part of a larger human experience. They knew that they were living in a moment when everyone was coming together. It was a lovely thing to see.”

Iwaniec recalls how the excitement of the people that day “elevated me,” and is looking forward to gathering once again with curious first-timers and amateur astronomers on the North Shore this April. After all, much of the thrill comes from witnessing a rare event with the strangers around you, Hartenstine says.

“The wow moment is that you’re experiencing that with a crowd of people you are now inextricably tied to,” he says. “Wherever you might be, that experience and group of people is part of your circle of memory forever.”

The writer is a planetarium presenter at the Science Center.