2017-08-21 Show Notes @ WSVA

Details of the weather, times and animations.

Top five worst superstitions about solar eclipses

1. It is unclear where this wive’s tale (pardon the pun) originates, but it persists. In the cultures where this myth is believed, women and small children are advised to stay indoors during an eclipse.
2. According to Space.com, some cultures also believed that children born during an eclipse would turn into mice.
3. In India, some cultures opt to fast during an eclipse. This is done because it is believed that any food cooked during an eclipse is impure, or worse, poisonous.
4. Italians have long believed that if flowers are planted during an eclipse, they will be more colorful when it’s time to bloom.
5. The Batammaliba of Togo and Benin believe an eclipse happens because the Sun and Moon are fighting one another. In order to get the Sun back, people on Earth are advised to settle their differences and make peace.

CNN — Amazon issues refunds for potentially phony eclipse glasses
http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/13/news/amazon-eclipse-glasses-refunds/

Amazon says it is taking action against potentially counterfeit solar eclipse glasses.

The company said Sunday (8/13) that it contacted and issued refunds to some customers who purchased glasses on Amazon that “may not comply with industry standards.”

Amazon has also removed a few listings for glasses on its website “out of an abundance of caution.” It did not name any of those listings in its statement.

Newsweek — Total Solar Eclipse 2017: What Happens To Your Eyes If You Look Directly At The Sun?
http://www.newsweek.com/total-solar-eclipse-what-happens-if-you-look-directly-sun-644770

Hundreds of millions of people will be in range to observe the Aug. 21 event as either a total or partial eclipse, and if they don’t use safe viewing methods, the results can be literally blinding. Light from the sun can burn your eyeballs, resulting in permanent damage. So if you want to look directly at the sun, it’s critical to use glasses with proper ISO certification, like those from vendors on the AAS list , Ramsden said.

Space.com
Here’s how to make a solar eclipse viewer 5 easy steps:

• Cut a small hole (about 1 inch across) in one end of the shoe box, near an edge.
• Tape a piece of tinfoil over the hole.
• Using a pin or needle, punch a hole in the center of the foil.
• Tape a small piece of white paper to the inside of the box, at the opposite end from the foil-covered hole. The paper should be positioned so that light entering the box through the pin hole will hit it. This is where you’ll look for the sun.
• Cut a 1-inch-diameter hole in the box near the image screen (the white piece of paper), but on a different side of the box — the side adjacent to the screen. This is your viewing hole; it must be positioned such that you can look through it at an angle and see the image screen.

When the time comes for the eclipse, hold the shoe box so that it lines up with its own shadow, demonstrating that it is aligned with light from the sun. Stand so that when you look through the viewing hole, you can see a tiny bead of light on the image screen; that’s the sun. During the eclipse, you’ll see the shadow of the moon pass in front of the sun.

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