BEWARE! AVOID LOOKING TO THE SKY ON THURSDAY

The National Space Research and Development Agency, NASRDA, has announced that Nigeria will experience an annular solar eclipse on Thursday, September 1. In a statement released to the media by Dr. Felix Ale, the head of media and corporate communications, the phenomenon is expected between 7:15 a.m. and

10:03 a.m.  “In Lagos, the first contact will occur about 7:15 a.m. while the maximum eclipse will occur around 8:30 a.m. and will end by 10:03 a.m. The eclipse is expected to commence in Abuja around 7:17 a.m., with maximum eclipse to be recorded about 8:32 a.m. and the eclipse will end around 10:00 am,” he said.

An annular eclipse occurs when the Sun and Moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun. Hence the Sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the dark disk of the Moon.

Ale however warned about the dangers inherent in observing the eclipse with naked eyes, which could lead to permanent damage to the eyes, as the obstruction does not reduce the luminosity of the sun. Therefore, viewing the Sun during the annular eclipse requires special eye protection, or indirect viewing methods, if eye damage is to be avoided. The Sun's disk can be viewed using appropriate filtration to block the harmful part of the Sun's radiation. Sunglasses do not make viewing the Sun safe. Only properly designed and certified solar filters can be used for direct viewing of the Sun's disk. To this effect, Ale stated that NASRDA has put in place a viewing centre at her headquarters in Abuja with the provision of proper eclipse viewing apparatus for school children to observe the annular eclipse. This he said is part of the space agency’s continuous efforts to expose Nigerians, especially students to matters concerning astronomical environment.

However, for those that cannot be at the agency’s headquarters, the safest way to view the Sun's disk is by indirect projection. This can be done by projecting an image of the disk onto a white piece of paper or card using a pair of binoculars (with one of the lenses covered), a telescope, or another piece of cardboard with a small hole in it, often called a pinhole camera.