Solar eclipse questions

[Blindingly apparent]

School is dismissing early on Monday. My grandson spend most of his pre-afternoon in the swimming pool. Does the sense reflection off the water pose any risk? Is it safe for the cat and the dog to be out there? I probably should include that our pool faces Southwest. Our deck faces west.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I don't believe that the sun's reflection off the water poses any risk.

Ask your grandson's science teacher, or better yet, ask an astronomer. You could Google it, actually.

Are you in the path of totality? IF you are, then you may look at the sun and moon without eye protection when the sun is completely behind the moon, during totality.

And by eye protection, I mean properly made solar eyewear. You must not look at the naked sun without that protection.

The animals might be frightened by the sudden darkening of the atmosphere--they might be better off in the house at that time.

[Warpy]

2. Those things are no more dangerous than they are on any sunny day

but show him how to look at the sun safely, with two pieces of paper, a pinhole punched in one. He's going to want to see it even if it's only a partial eclipse.

No, I don't trust the glasses.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. The eclipse poses no more danger than the sun does at any other time...

The rule is simple-- do not look directly at it without proper protection. Eclipse or no eclipse, don't look at the sun. The cat and the dog already know that, but you may want to warn the kids that when it starts to get dark-- DON'T LOOK UP.

One of my favorite photo stores has a good intro to solar viewing, including the eclipse:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/solar-observing/ci/33818/N/3583558376/sba

The solar glasses they sell are certified and safe, but they may be out of everything by now. If you buy some somewhere else, be sure you trust them.

Now, even better is to make a "pinhole projector" It'll take you five minutes to set it up and it is perfectly safe. You can go out later today and experiment with it to see how it works. Even make several of them with different size holes, and using black and grey "screens". See what works best.

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/make-pinhole-projector.html

Have a fun, and safe, time!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. The sun's reflection off the water is no different during the

eclipse than it is when the sun is not eclipsed.

I'm a bit surprised at your question. The only difference between the sun in a non-eclipse situation and the partially eclipsed sun (I'm guessing that's the case from your question) is trivial. Do you let the cat and dog outside when the sun is shining when there's no eclipse? Do you normally worry about which direction the pool or deck faces?

Let me explain this to you. Most of the time the sun is fully visible. During an eclipse, the sun is partially or perhaps totally covered for a period of time. Think about this. How would the eclipsed ( be it partially or fully) sun be any different from a non-eclipsed sun?

Have you thought about it? I think you have the answer.

Of course, if you normally keep the cat and dog inside, do keep them inside on the 21st. Just to be safe.

Sheesh. I can't believe I have to explain this.

[MiniMe]

5. They say cats and dogs may act a little different during the eclipse

Don't know the details, but they don't understand what is going on

[RobinA]

7. We Had

a pretty close to total partial eclipse in the early '70's and we had horses and the horses went nuts when it got dark. Became quite upset tearing around their field. They knew something wasn't right.

[Towlie]

6. No risk, but religious people claim it has significance, although they can't agree on what it means.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/08/solar-eclipse-as-religious-experience/536823/

Some claim that it's a sign of something, but if it was then it wouldn't be predictable. As far as I'm concerned, if the eclipse doesn't happen, that would be a sign!

[Generic Brad]

8. Just remember it will be dark as night

Do you usually let your grandson go swimming in the dark?