The Purkinje Effect: Why Scientists Say To Wear Green And Red During The Eclipse

Topline

As millions of Americans gear up to catch the total solar eclipse on April 8, scientists advise stargazers to take advantage of an unusual effect by wearing green and red clothing, allowing colors to pop as the midday sun suddenly turns dark.

Scientists advise stargazers not just to wear specialty eclipse glasses, but red and green clothes to make the eclipse pop. Getty Images

Key Facts

Scientists suggest people watching the eclipse wear green and red to maximize the phenomenon known as the Purkinje effect, a change in colors brought on by transitioning from sunlight to darkness.

That effect—which makes the red colors appear darker in contrast to brighter greens and blues—typically takes 20 to 30 minutes to perceive as day turns to night, though during an eclipse the effect takes only a matter of seconds, Cleveland Clinic ophthalmologist Nicole Bajic told AccuWeather.

Wearing red and green, or watching the eclipse in a group of people wearing those colors, will boost the Purkinje effect as the moon briefly passes over the sun, Bajic said.

Tracy Gregg, a planetary scientist at the University of Buffalo, said the effect can also show itself in hues of purple, an effect created when typically vibrant reds and oranges appear darker in dim light, brightening not only blues and greens, but lilacs and violets, Gregg told Scientific American.

The eclipse will pass from Texas to Maine on April 8. Great American Eclipse

Where Can You Watch The Eclipse

While the eclipse will be visible, at least in part, throughout the entire contiguous U.S., the eclipse will be best observed in a path stretching from Mazatlan, Mexico, across Texas, over the Midwest and the Northeast. Its path makes the eclipse visible starting at 11 a.m. local time in the Mexican states of Durango and Sinaloa. It crosses into Texas just after noon local time, before moving over Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. By 4:30 local time in New Brunswick, the eclipse is expected to travel east over the Atlantic.

Surprising Fact

The Purkinje effect is not the only phenomenon scientists predict stargazers will be able to take advantage of during the eclipse. Astronomers also say people will be able to catch a so-called double diamond ring, a rare effect when the last glimpse of the dimming sun suddenly turns into a bright flash around its rim, before appearing to extinguish completely, similar to the flash of the sunset over the horizon.

Further Reading

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