Solar Eclipse of 2017 -- Monday, August 21

Psalm 19: 1-4

The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament shows His handiwork.

Day unto day utters speech,

And night unto night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech nor language

Where their voice is not heard.

Their line has gone out through all the earth,

And their words to the end of the world.

Saturday night three of my friends came out late in the evening so we could watch the Perseid meteor showers from the darkness of my country home.  I hadn't been too excited about going outside at the time I'd normally be curling up with a good book. But, oh, how glad I was that my friends took the initiative to come out! What a show! We saw some stupendous shooting stars -- and more than I have ever seen before. 

Sunday morning our sermon from Psalm 29 was a perfect exclamation point to our previous night's fireworks, as Pastor Tim reminded us that God has made His glory obvious in all of creation. The heavens indeed declare His glory from day to day!

The Perseids are past their peak for this year, but we have an even more amazing astronomical event coming on Monday, August 21 - a total solar eclipse! 

From our home in Indiana, we're in the greater than 90% coverage zone. Our family, though, plans to head south to Kentucky, assuming the weather looks promising, in order to reach the area of totality. 

Whether or not you are in the zone of totality, you'll likely be able to see some pretty cool things on Monday. It's super easy to find resources on the web right now about how to view the eclipse, when and where to do so, and what to expect. Here are some I've been looking at:

Apologia is offering an excellent free e-book called A Day with Two Dawns. (You'll have to sign up for their newsletter, though you can unsubscribe at any time.) This resource includes a model your children can make to help them understand how the moon blocks the sun's light during an eclipse.

This video gives some great tips for safely viewing the eclipse, whether you are in the region of totality or not.

Just how is it that the moon, which is 400 times smaller than the sun, is able to "eclipse" the sun perfectly? Read this short article from World magazine to see evidence of God's amazing, creative design work!

Here's a neat and simple way to make a pinhole viewer. 

And this article explains some of the weird things you might see if you are in the path of totality.

"What is an Eclipse?" - from NASA , written for kids in grade 5-8. 

Here's hoping for clear skies on Monday!!!