On Monday the 21st of August 2017, North America, and most especially the United States, will be treated to its first Solar Eclipse of the century. This beautiful Cosmic event is most definitely something you may not want to miss. However, the fact is that you SHOULD NOT stare directly at the Eclipse, just like you should never look directly at the Sun.
The other little pesky detail, is that you have to be in the “path” of the eclipse to actually get a good look at it, and the continental United States is where it’s at. To put you in context, the good folks in Canada and Mexico will only get to see a partial eclipse, which is still cool, but not the full monty. According to NASA: This path, where the moon will completely cover the sun and the sun’s tenuous atmosphere - the corona - can be seen, will stretch from Salem, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina.
Also, some of us will be at work during the event, and we don’t necessarily recommend asking your boss for time off to go stare at the sun… 😉
While you may have the option to purchase “Eclipse sunglasses”, or maybe a special filter for your telescope, there is a much simpler way to observe the event: Virtual Reality.
We have been big fans of the CNN VR App for quite some time, as their content is always top notch and relevant. The good folks at CNN have decided to Livestream the Solar Eclipse in VR, and we approve. Simply download the app and tune in LIVE at 1:00pm Eastern Standard Time. The livestream is brought to you by Volvo, which kinda makes us feel like it will be safe. Boy, was that pun obvious and easy, haha!
No VR Headset? No problem: they will also be streaming the event, still in 360, via their website (that means WebVR too) at the following link:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/20/vr/how-to-watch-the-eclipse-in-vr/index.html#/web/search/virtual%20reality
