Oregon Eclipse

August 2017 • OREGON ECLIPSE •

OREGON ECLIPSE Monday, August 21

LOOK to the SKIES

PACK your BAGS

SOLAR SHADES

TOTAL ECLIPSE U.S. Path of

— How the cosmos influence myth

Build your own eclipse viewer

Special publication of the Siuslaw News

Prepare with emergency kits

Totality Map

Aug. 16, 2017 TheSiuslawNews.com

2 • OREGON ECLIPSE • August 2017

August 2017 • OREGON ECLIPSE • 3

The Great American Eclipse — Monday, Aug. 21

O

n Monday, Aug. 21, all of America will get to see the sky darken as the moon passes in front of the sun. The

eclipse reaches American soil first on the Oregon coast, near Depoe Bay in Lincoln County, and then travels east through Sa-

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lem, Madras and Baker City in a 65- to 70-mile wide corridor called the path of totality.

Other states included in the path of totality are Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the

OREGON ECLIPSE - 2 017 -

COURTESY MAPS

lunar shadow enters Oregon at 9:05 a.m.

PDT. Totality begins in the United States in Lincoln City, Ore., at 10:16 a.m. PDT. The total eclipse will end in Charleston, S.C., at 2:48 p.m. EDT, and the lunar shadow leaves the entire U.S. at 4:09 p.m. EDT. In Florence, people will experience a partial eclipse. The moon will cover 99.3 percent of the sun at 10:16:25 a.m. PDT.

Inside Eclipses Through Myths and Legends ............... 4 Getting Glasses & Eclipse Safety ........................ 5 Sight of a Lifetime — Build a Projector ............... 6

4 • OREGON ECLIPSE • August 2017

LOOK to the SKIES: How the cosmos influence myth B

efore science advanced enough to document the dance of heavenly bodies visible throughout the seasons, mankind looked to stories and myths to explain the moving lights above.

Some cultures populated the sky with gods, beasts and heroes, naming constellations for brave deeds and epic voyages, and crowning the planets and stars with personalities.

When the cosmic patterns shifted, such as the rare occurrence of a full or partial eclipse, it meant something important.

There are many stories surrounding the disappearance of the sun during a solar eclipse.

For the Vikings, they saw a pair of sky wolves chasing the celestial bodies. In Vietnam, a frog ate the sun. In India, the demon Rahu disguised himself as a god in order to steal a taste of the immortality elixir the sun provided. And in China, the myths involving the solar eclipse frequently changed as well.

A popular Chinese legend holds that a dragon would come to take away the earth’s light, and the only way to scare it off would be to bang pots and pans to frighten it away. In fact, the ancient Chinese word for eclipse is “shi,” or “to eat.” “Shi” is especially important in the tale of Tiangou.

In the beginning, there were 10 suns in the skies, all

Painting of Tiangou eating the sun by David DePasquale

brothers who would take turns rising at the behest of the Jade Emperor, the first god of China.

One day, the brothers decided to play a game. One by one they all rose into the sky, beaming down onto the earth as the seas boiled and the crops were laid to waste.

It was up to the great archer Houyi to save humanity.

With his faithful dog at his side, Houyi took steady aim at the brothers, drawing back his bowstring and letting the arrows fly. One by one the brothers fell, all but the last son of the Jade Emperor, who helped give life to the world.

In appreciation of Houyi’s deeds, the Queen Mother of the West, Wangmu Niangniang, awarded him with a pill that would give him immortality.

But Houyi’s wife Chang’e was full of greed. She took the pill in hopes that it would give her eternal youth, but the pill had unintended consequences. Her body became lighter and lighter, lifting her off the ground.

She spit the pill out, but to no avail; she soon found herself floating away to the heavens.

To save the wayward wife, Houyi’s dog licked the remains of the pill and then went after her. As he went, the effects of the God’s magic made him bigger and bigger until he was the size of an elephant. He bounded into the skies to bring back Chang’e home safely.

The giant dog terrified Chang’e. She hid on the moon, but the dog sniffed her out. With one great gulp, he ate both the moon and Chang’e.

Niangniang captured the huge dog, forcing him to spit the moon, and the wife, back out.

But what were they to do with the dog?

He was too large and frightening to stay on the earth with Houyi and Chang’e, so Niangniang tasked the beast with guarding the heavens, naming it Tiangou, or Heavenly Dog.

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August 2017 • OREGON ECLIPSE • 5

Stay safe while viewing eclipse, traveling Protect your T eyes with free o help people enjoy the experience of equal to Florence’s annual Rhododendron typical for mid- to late-August in Florthe Aug. 21 total solar eclipse safely, Festival; some predict more people, oth- ence.

Western Lane Ambulance and the Flor- ers predict less. The fact is, Hannigan said, “We’ve told chamber members that as ence Eye Clinic have collaborated to make there is no way to know at this point. a chamber of commerce, we hope to help 2,000 eclipse glasses available free to the “What we do know is that everyone will manage people’s expectations, ensure public. The glasses make it safe to look di- want to get several days’ worth of supplies people’s experiences are as safe and posirectly at the sun during the eclipse. ahead of time as those passing through tive as possible, and to be memorable for Sunglasses, even several pairs, will not might use up valuable resources like the right reasons. We want them to be glad they were in Florbe sufficient to prevent ence,” she said. eye damage.

The Monday, Aug. 21, eclipse will be the first total Organizations such The Oregon Goversolar eclipse seen in the U.S. in 26 years and the as the American Red nor’s Office of Emergenfirst seen in the contiguous U.S. in 38 years. It will Cross and the local cy Management forecasts Western Lane Emerup to 1 million visitors also be the first total eclipse to travel across the gency Operations will descend upon the U.S. from coast to coast since 1918 and the first Group (WLEOG) are state for the event. Many total eclipse seen only in the U.S. since before the encouraging people to will want to be on the nation’s founding in 1776. have a fully-stocked coast where this rare car emergency kit, cross-country phenomenon begins. To access the path of totality, groceries, paper products and gasoline,” including water, food, survival tools and visitors and locals will swamp roadways she said. “This advice applies to local car repair necessities, as roads will likely such as Highways 101 and 126 for three restaurants and grocery stores too. They be packed and delays could occur. In fact, to five days before and after the event on should consider ordering product well in emergency response groups encourage their way to the path of totality. advance as shipments into Florence may supplies for up to three days, the standard “Florence is about 40 miles south of the get bogged down for several days by the for survival kits, for people who plan to stay home as well. path of totality,” said Chamber Executive unpredictable amount of traffic.”

For more information, visit wleog.org.

Director Bettina Hannigan.

Hannigan points out that all local campSome local officials estimate crowds sites and hotels will be full, which is and www.FlorenceChamber.com/eclipse.

eclipse glasses

People can pick up eclipse glasses free of charge in the Florence area starting this week at the following distribution points: • Western Lane Ambulance District, 410 Ninth St. • Siuslaw Valley Fire & Rescue Main Station, 2625 Highway 101 • Florence Area Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center, 290 Highway 101 • Siuslaw Eye Clinic, 535 Ninth St. • Siuslaw Public Library, 1460 Ninth St. in Florence and 88148 Riverview Ave. in Mapleton Remember, only two pairs of glasses per person will be given out. Each location has a limited amount on a first come, first served basis.

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6 • OREGON ECLIPSE • August 2017

Sight of a lifetime — Make an eclipse viewer at home

W

hile solar eclipses can be some of the most spectacular shows in nature, they can also be very dangerous if viewers don't follow proper precautions.

It is not safe for people to look directly at the sun without taking precautions to protect their eyes, as the sun is far too bright to view directly. But a simple pinhole projector can help see an image of the sun, safely.

Eclipses can be observed indirectly by projection, in which viewers watch the eclipse on a screen. Pinhole projectors can be easily constructed at home with few materials by creating a pinprick in some kind of barrier such as paper, cardboard or aluminum foil. Sunlight streaming through the hole will cast an image of the sun on a screen — which can be as simple as a sheet of paper — beyond the opening.

Materials needed: • Cardboard box such as a carton, cereal box or shoe box. The longer the box,

IMAGE COURTESY OF NASA

the larger the image of the sun.

• Scissors or box knife • Masking or transparent tape • 1 piece of white paper • Pin • Duct (opaque) tape, as needed.

Build the Box Projector: Any box will work, but these instructions are for a cardboard box.

• If using a box with open seams, seal up

the box with opaque tape such as duct tape to make the inside dark. Only the pinhole in the foil should let in light.

• Tape white paper inside on one end of box. This will be the screen.

• Cut or poke eye and sun holes.

• Tape aluminum foil over sun hole.

• Poke hole in foil with pin.

• Tape box shut to block light leaks.

To Use the Pinhole Viewer: • Stand with the sun behind you.

• Point the pinhole end of the box toward the sun. Move around until, looking through the viewing opening, you see an image of the sun projected inside the box.

• An easy way to align with the sun is to make the shadow of the box and your head as small as possible.

• Your pinhole projector will show a small image of the sun that is useful during a partial eclipse to see the “bite” the moon takes out of the sun.

• The longer the box is, the larger the image of the sun will be.

Another way to project an image of the eclipse on to a screen is with a mirror.

Place the mirror behind a barrier, such as a piece of paper, with a small hole in it.

Position the mirror so that light from the sun bounces off of it onto a screen. Again, safety requires looking only at the screen, not at the mirror. — All information courtesy NASA: Total Eclipse

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August 2017 • OREGON ECLIPSE • 7 TIANGOU

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Zhang Xiang protects children by shooting Tiangou from the sky.

But as the dog continued to grow, so did his voracious appetite.

Tiangou’s head became brass, his neck iron. He still craved the moon, which gave way to a proclivity for the taste of the sun.

Tiangou would bound around in the heavens, periodically swallowing the celestial bodies whole.

The sun and the moon could only satiate the dog for so long. Soon, Tiangou’s hunger turned toward men. He was especially dangerous in the morning hours, just as the last remaining son of the Jade Emperor climbed into the sky. Tiangou would sneak into homes of unsuspecting families and devour the small children of China.

These horrors led another great archer to protect the children of the world as Zhang Xian stood outside of his home, his arrow aimed directly at the sun, waiting.

As Tiangou began his creep upon the sun

to swallow it whole, Xian took steady aim to shoot the devil beast from the sky.

This protected the children of the world until Tiangou healed and returned to the heavens.

So as the moon obscures COURTESY IMAGE the sun on Aug. 21, remember that Xian’s bow and arrow will help the last son of the Jade Emperor to shine again.

By Jared Anderson, Siuslaw News

OREGON ECLIPSE 2017

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8 • OREGON ECLIPSE • August 2017