On March 29, a solar eclipse will occur on Earth. The maximum phase will reach 94%, which will not be total. However, many people are worried that it will somehow affect the health of people and animals.
Solar eclipse on March 29
On March 29 at 8:57 a.m. GMT (3:57 a.m. EST), a solar eclipse will be observed. Its maximum phase will be at dawn in the region of the Labrador Peninsula, but even here will be closed only 94% of the solar disk. In other places, it is much weaker. In Ukraine, it is difficult to notice anything at all, even if you look through a dark glass directly at the Sun.
Nevertheless, many people have a question whether the eclipse can somehow affect the well-being or behavior of people and animals. It is of interest not only to ordinary citizens but also to scientists.
We have to answer it, starting with what is happening at this moment and what effects it can cause in principle. A solar eclipse is a configuration in which the Moon is between us and the Sun, and all its influence is that it blocks the flow of particles directed from our luminary.
Simply put, there is a shadow of different depths, and it moves along the surface of our planet. It should be remembered that since our satellite is much smaller than the Earth, not only total eclipse but also partial eclipse is quite a local phenomenon. That is, at any eclipse, there will be places on the Earth where no effects from it will be observed in principle.
Partial eclipses simply do not reduce light levels enough to be immediately noticeable. The current eclipse is no exception. Therefore, it is simply physically incapable of having any global impact. In most places on Earth, neither animals nor people notice it.
Animal behavior during a total eclipse
But still, what about a total solar eclipse? After all, during it, the Moon completely covers the solar disk, and darkness falls. It should somehow affect living beings, right? First of all, it is necessary to understand the scale of the event. Indeed, the illumination of the Earth where the deepest shadow falls on it is reduced by 4000 times. But this is not total darkness. It corresponds to civil or navigational twilight, that is, the time about an hour after sunset or the same time before dawn.
Also, bright stars up to and including magnitude 3 become visible in the sky. In addition, the temperature may drop by 10°, the wind may rise, and clouds may disappear or appear. All these are interrelated phenomena, the primary source of which is a decrease in illumination.
Secondly, we should remember that a total solar eclipse is an event very limited in space and time. It is a spot (shadow) moving rather quickly across the Earth’s surface. Its width can not exceed 273 km, and the duration of darkening in a particular area – 7 min. 32 s.
Of course, all of this has the potential to scare someone who doesn’t know what’s going on, but nothing more than that.
Animals react to a solar eclipse. This is a fact. Bees fly to their hives, flamingos hide their chicks from a possible predator attack, ungulates may start running frightened, and gorillas move to their sleeping place and begin to settle down to sleep.
There are not many studies of animal behavior at this time, but in general, they indicate that its changes are reduced to the fact that day animals, as well as humans, think that suddenly and at the wrong time, night has come, and many of them are frightened by this phenomenon.
In contrast, nocturnal animals, such as birds of prey, may wake up and start looking for food. And Galapagos tortoises in American zoos begin to mate at all. But nothing that could not be explained by fright and the transition from “day” to “night” mode, scientists have not yet discovered.
Does the eclipse affect people’s psyche?
The question of whether an eclipse can affect the behavior of people, both individual and group, and, as a consequence, the policy of states, is quite interesting. It goes beyond astronomy, physics, and biology because, as it was said, the effect of an eclipse on living beings is similar to the sudden onset of night, but only for a few minutes.
It is the same with human beings. But we should take into account the ability of Homo sapiens to see signs in any event that does not happen every day, and, as a consequence, our consciousness somehow highlights them. On people with a healthy psyche, the eclipse should not have a strong impact, but if a person has an unstable psyche and tends to believe in strange things, the solar eclipse can push him to rash words and actions.
This is especially true for those people who are members of marginal religious organizations, simply put, sects. Their leaders tend to use such astronomical events to justify their crazy fantasies. So, if you have relatives or acquaintances who are inclined to visit such places, we advise you to pay special attention to their behavior so that they do not harm themselves and others.
As for the greatest possible harm to health from the solar eclipse, it can be obtained by simply giving in to the general desire to watch the eclipse. If you just look at our luminary during the eclipse, you will not get any result except for burns of the retina and mucous membranes of the eyes.
Even during the 90%+ phase, you can’t look at the Sun without a light filter. Ordinary dark glasses do not help much, either. So look at the Sun only through a special film, the densest possible filters for welder’s glasses or something like that. This is the only way to enjoy the eclipse safely.
