Special light sound device at the Connecticut Science Center allows people to hear the eclipse

HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) – The Connecticut Science Center in Hartford is hosting a viewing party for the eclipse on Monday.

They have all sorts of events planned throughout the day.

They’re also the only location in Connecticut to have a special device that allows those who may not be able to see the eclipse, to hear it.

While thousands will gather here at the science center to view the eclipse using the all-important eclipse glasses, those who are blind or low vision will use a light sound device, making the celestial event something everyone can experience.

“The light sound device was developed in 2017 by Allyson, out of the Astro Lab at Harvard Smithsonian, used and collected data during the 2017 eclipse,” said Nate Gagnon, Connecticut Science Center STEM Educator. “Solar eclipse is a very visual thing. What it does is convert light into sound.”

To demonstrate how it works, we used a flashlight to serve as our sun.

A sensor measures the brightness of the light, an on-board computer converts that value to sound. As the moon’s shadow moves across earth, it causes the light to dim, which in turn causes the pitch to drop.

If viewing or listening, the upcoming eclipse will last about two and a half hours, from beginning to end.

“The same way you’d look up and see the eclipse, see something now, look back 10 minutes later you’ll see something different, you’ll be able to hear that difference in the tone as well,” Gagnon said.

“There’s a subtle change that happens, but when you get close to totality it’s very dramatic when there is the most change in sunlight – that’s when you’ll hear the majority of the change,” said Allyson Bieryla with the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard Smithsonian.

A key component or large factor in how this all plays out is the weather in order to visually and audibly experience the eclipse we’ll need to have a clear sky.

But if it’s a little cloudy, all hope is not lost.

“Even if it’s a cloudy day, especially if it’s thin clouds, you’ll still get a change in brightness, due to the eclipse, so you’ll still experience a change in sound,” said Bieryla.

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