# Viewing the solar eclipse **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 9, 2017, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-the-solar-eclipse/793174 "2017-08-09T14:11:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ispolkom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@Ispolkom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ispolkom)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-the-solar-eclipse/793174/41 "2017-08-13T04:38:41Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > You don’t even need to make the pinhole. > Just look at the pattern of light on the ground after it passes through the leaves of a tree - all the little pools of light will be crescents! I’m going to be in Nebraska. Any suggestions that don’t involve trees? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-the-solar-eclipse/793174/42 "2017-08-13T04:40:58Z")
> [@Ispolkom](#): > > I’m going to be in Nebraska. Any suggestions that don’t involve trees? Anything with holes in it - a colander, a security door screen, a street sign with buckshot holes in it… ETA: [here’s](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2012/05/shadow2_mini1.jpg) cool example. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-the-solar-eclipse/793174/43 "2017-08-13T04:53:33Z")
I emailed the place in London that supplied my glasses to Amazon to see if there was an actual concern or Amazon was just covering their very deep legal pockets. They replied that they were tested and previously well and safely used in the past, and I could put them on and look at the sun all day and be just fine. And they were pretty pissed at Amazon. They don’t have the sooperdooper official magic certified logo on them, but it’s not like the counterfeiter suppliers can’t just print any damned logo they want on their evil, blinding glasses. Come to think of it, that’s a good way for our many enemies to bring down 'Merka. Blind the populace! Through Amazon! How very diabolical. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-the-solar-eclipse/793174/44 "2017-08-13T04:55:33Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Anything with holes in it - a colander, a security door screen, a street sign with buckshot holes in it… > > ETA: [here’s](https://petapixel.com/assets/uploads/2012/05/shadow2_mini1.jpg) cool example. Does that only happen during totality, or is 90% enough? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-the-solar-eclipse/793174/45 "2017-08-13T04:58:29Z")
> [@pohjonen](#): > > Does that only happen during totality, or is 90% enough? 90% will work ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-the-solar-eclipse/793174/46 "2017-08-13T04:59:35Z")
> [@Ispolkom](#): > > I’m going to be in Nebraska. Any suggestions that don’t involve trees? Punch holes in a piece of paper or cardboard. ETA: **beowulff** already got it. A colander is a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-the-solar-eclipse/793174/47 "2017-08-13T05:01:09Z")
> [@Ispolkom](#): > > I’m going to be in Nebraska. Any suggestions that don’t involve trees? FFS, there are many trees in Nebraska.[it’s where Arbor Day eas founded.](https://www.arborday.org/celebrate/documents/history.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-the-solar-eclipse/793174/48 "2017-08-13T12:33:12Z")
In fact, the shadow effect works with everything _but_ totality, since a totally-eclipsed Sun will cast no shadows. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-the-solar-eclipse/793174/49 "2017-08-13T12:44:21Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > 90% will work Any percentage will work; it just won’t be as cool as the photo. In fact, \*no \*eclipse works, too – only the round spots are every-day dull. ---
**Author:** ![Ispolkom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@Ispolkom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ispolkom)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-the-solar-eclipse/793174/50 "2017-08-15T02:41:09Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > FFS, there are many trees in Nebraska.[it’s where Arbor Day eas founded.](https://www.arborday.org/celebrate/documents/history.pdf) They established a tree planting holiday because they didn’t have trees. From my [limited](http://picsablog.com/category/united-states/nebraska/) [observation](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cather_Prairie_3.jpg) [it hasn’t](https://pixabay.com/en/nebraska-prairie-plains-landscape-321291/)[worked](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/lincoln-nebraska-home-on-the-prairie-106756456/) [that](http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-alliance-nebraska-a-dinosaur-sculpture-on-the-nebraska-prairie-72209509.html) [well](http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-wagon-train-tracks-across-western-nebraska-prairie-oregon-trail-wagon-12283729.html). I’ll admit that it’s all relative. Compared to eastern Montana, for instance, Nebraska is like the Amazon rainforest. I’ll be sure to pack my colander. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2017, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-the-solar-eclipse/793174/51 "2017-08-19T17:15:29Z")
If you want via live stream instead: > [@](#): > > NASA will host two live streams: One will follow the eclipse across the U.S.; the other will broadcast from Carbondale, Illinois, a spot that will be in the path of totality for the 2017 eclipse and also the 2024 eclipse. (The livestreams will be launched on Monday, and we’ll feature them here on Live Science.) You can also check the Live Science website and follow @LiveScience on Twitter for photos and around-the-clock coverage of the total solar eclipse. > > NASA’s Eclipse Across America live stream will last from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. EDT. This video will offer fantastic views from 12 locations, including from airplanes, ground telescopes and 57 high-altitude balloons. > > To get another perspective, you can view NASA’s Live from Carbondale live stream, which lasts from 11:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. EDT. Once you tune in, you will be able to watch live coverage of the eclipse, interviews with scientists, telescope feeds and educational activities; you can also participate in social media chats. > **[Here's How to Watch the Great American Solar Eclipse Live](https://www.livescience.com/60178-total-solar-eclipse-2017-watch-live.html)** > > Here's how to watch the Great American Solar Eclipse live on Monday. The NASA livestream is at: [https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-live-stream](https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-live-stream) ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-the-solar-eclipse/793174/52 "2017-08-23T03:08:29Z")
All I can say was AWESOME. We got 90 seconds on totality in Shaniko, Central Oregon. No issue with traffic getting in or getting out. Shaniko has a population of 300 and there were at best a couple thousand visitors. My plan to go from Seattle through central Washington and Oregon worked, my kids took the solar glasses seriously, and a great time was had by all. ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-the-solar-eclipse/793174/53 "2017-08-23T17:54:26Z")
Getting from Eugene OR to Corvallis OR was easy. We drove up 99W at 3am, came back down Peoria Road around 11am. Traffic was nonexistent on the way up, heavy in some places on the way back but nothing worse than you normally see at the end of a football game. The trip from Corvallis to Eugene usually takes 55 minutes. On Monday it took 75 minutes. meh. I-5 was another story. I heard that it was terrible over there and Google Maps was showing red red red, from Eugene up to Portland, so we stayed away. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viewing-the-solar-eclipse/793174.md?page=2)