When you head to the beach for Memorial Day weekend, bring a towel, an umbrella and a telescope with a solar filter — because this summer is prime time for safely staring at the sun.in the New York City area earlier this month is set to continue, and will make for a unique viewing opportunity for stargazers with the right equipment.
Solar prominences of electrically charged helium and hydrogen should be visible this weekend, with the right equipment. NASA released this image of a 2010 prominence with the earth superimposed for a sense of scale.The best time to view the sun is morning or midday. A big, green field is an optimal viewing spot.
On the edges of the solar disk, stargazers can also see solar prominences, which look like bright pieces of the sun whipping out and looping back into its surface. A prominence can loop hundreds of thousands of miles into space and last for several months. The glowing loops are made of plasma, a hot gas of electrically charged helium and hydrogen.
“T Corona Borealis is a star that you can never see,” said Fried. “Every 80 years or so, it explodes and it rises to the level of a bright naked eye star that would be visible even in New York City.”