How to Get the Most from the Solar Eclipse in Minnesota

What are you wearing? Yes, it’s been a bad line that people have used on each other for years and normally has more of a “mature” connotation to it.  

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But if you’re going to try to see the Solar Eclipse on Monday afternoon, you’ll need to ask yourself this question. According to reports the colors you wear could affect how well you see the event. 

If you’ve got your heart set on getting the most out of the eclipse, you should dress like its Christmas. Well, in the colors of Christmas at least.  

There’s science out there that says that wearing red and green will work best scientifically to view the eclipse which will hopefully be visible Monday afternoon around 2pm.  

When I say the “science”, I’m not trying to impress you with my intellect, science never was my thing. I’m referring to the “Purkinje Effect” which is named after the Czech Physiologist that discovered the theory, which says that when the intensity of light decreases, red tones tend to fade faster than blue ones. 

What does this mean for Monday afternoon? You could see colors on your clothes when you look through the approved glasses you need to wear for the eclipse.  

Green and Red act differently during this “Effect” but work better together. If you can get into a bigger group where everyone is wearing the green and red mixture, what you could see could be spectacular.  

We’re expecting cloud cover and that could impact what the result of the eclipse will be for us in Minnesota. But even if the cloud cover puts somewhat of a damper on the viewing, wearing green and red could open up a show that others may not get if they don’t wear those colors.  

If you’re going to try and see the Solar Eclipse, don’t wear grey, black, white or other neutral colors that could blend with what's going on.  

Happy Viewing!