A big ridge in the jet stream is transporting western wildfire smoke our way next couple of days.
Most of the smoke is in the upper atmosphere and won't dramatically impact air quality, but the sky may look a little milky and the sunrise and sunset may be enhanced.
But why the red/orange?
As we cut-n-paste from another TV station: "The smoke filters out shorter wavelengths of light, leaving mostly red and orange wavelengths to shine through and be seen by the naked human eye."
Crystal-clear blue sky this afternoon, for an unusually large sunspot left of center, but the attempt to angle my aging telescope almost straight up was very difficult. Joanne stayed the course through about 45 minutes of agonizing adjustments, and then the sun promptly disappeared behind the clouds. The sunspot was approximately 8,000 miles in diameter, or a hundredth of the diameter of the sun.
... and a view of the sunspot...
... and the size of the sunspot next to Earth for a little comparison...
According to NASA: "The sun ... is roughly 109 times the diameter of the Earth — about one million Earths could fit inside the sun."
And a word of warning from Felton if you want to start sunspot spotting: "Do not stare at the sun for any length of time, and do not point a telescope at it unless you have a very thick filter covering the tube."
A view of the sun this afternoon along Avenue B between Fifth Street and Sixth Street.
As you've likely heard, smoke from wildfires in the Western United States reached NYC earlier this week, giving the sky a hazy and milky look during the day.
Upper level winds continue to spread smoke from the West Coast #wildfires across much of the northern half of the CONUS, reaching well into the Atlantic Ocean! Skies will continue to be hazy as a result. Meanwhile, #HurricaneSally is impacting portions of the Southeast. pic.twitter.com/LadTkwIs21
"Meteorologists expect the graying effect to be ... present until the smoke is eventually pushed off the coast by a cold front on Friday," Gothamist reported.
Several people have asked if I knew anyplace in the East Village where one can buy solar eclipse glasses.
You need a pair of the special glasses, of course, to safely view the big event Monday afternoon. In NYC, we'll have a partial solar eclipse — about 70 percent of the sun will be covered when the moon passes directly between the sun and the Earth, as I cut and pasted.
Anyway, I have no idea where you can buy glasses here. (You're welcome!) This list of reputable vendors via NASA mentions 7-Eleven as an authorized nationwide dealer, among many others, such as Best Buy. For the sake of research, I stopped in the Avenue A 7-Eleven. The clerk had no idea what I was talking about.
Other articles mention that public libraries nationwide have them. Perhaps, but not around here...
A post shared by Tompkins Square Library (@tompkins_square_library) on
Has anyone seen a store selling the glasses in the East Village? This article at Curbed lists several places in NYC with glasses, such as B&H (the photography shop on Ninth Avenue, not the diner on Second Avenue) and Adorama on 18th Street.
As for particulars on Monday, via the NYC Parks Department:
The best time to view the eclipse is between 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. (weather permitting). The actual event occurs at 2:44 p.m. The eclipse will last only three minutes, so be prepared!
And etc. etc.: The last time the United States experienced a coast-to-coast total solar eclipse was 1918. After Monday, the next coast-to-coast total solar eclipse is due on Aug. 12, 2045, which coincides with Webster Hall's reopening.
An update from local astronomy buff Felton Davis...
We have located the "monster sunspot," and stared it down all afternoon!
A huge cluster of spots almost ten times the diameter of the Earth appeared a few days ago, and fortunately the skies cleared in time for a long session on Saturday afternoon. Many of my fans said they were disappointed that Thursday's eclipse was rained out, but this was something new for us all. Thanks to Ranjit and Chelsea for taking spectacular cellphone photos.