‘It’s captivating people’s attention;’ NASA describes rare partial eclipse

DAYTON — There’s a lot of excitement in the Miami Valley ahead of Saturday’s solar eclipse.

News Center 7′s Taylor Robertson will be part of our special coverage for the eclipse, and she talked with NASA to break down the science behind the spectacle.

Brittny McGraw with the NASA Office of Communications said, “There is so much that’s related to science and space that’s going on that’s capturing and captivating people’s attention.”

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News Center 7 talked to the Flight Director for the Heliophysics Division at NASA headquarters, Nicki Rayl, to better understand what’s a partial eclipse.

“An eclipse is when the moon is going to line up between the Earth and the Sun and it’s going to block a lot of the view of the Sun,” Rayl said.

Robertson asked, “You usually see the outer edge of the sun, so what will we see in Ohio?”

“In Ohio, it’s going to look more like a cookie with a bite out of it,” Rayl said.

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If you plan to watch the eclipse with your own eyes, Rayl said it’s important to wear eye protection.

“They ask that you actually use a solar filter like solar eclipse glasses, solar filter glasses,” Rayl said.

Rayl said those at NASA always look forward to eclipses considering how rare they are.

“We study the sun our job is to build spacecraft and to study the sun and it’s phenomena so to have something so unique like this where everything lines up perfectly in these unique conditions,” Rayl said.

The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton said the best way to watch the eclipse is with special glasses, and people can make them at home.

Just put a hole through a piece of paper, and you see the shadow through the paper.

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