Astronomers Without Borders needs your help to bring thousands of shades to Africa for solar eclipse
An non-profit organization wants to bring the wonder of the universe to people around the world.
Astronomers Without Borders -- founded in 2006 -- launches various projects to try to bring the science of planets, stars and galaxies a bit more down to Earth. In the past, the organization has collected photos of the transit of Mercury and helped fund a telescope project in Tanzania.
Now, Astronomers Without Borders is hoping to help bring the magic of a solar eclipse to school children across the African continent.
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The organization is asking amateur astronomers and space fans of all stripes to donate to a crowdfunding effort, aimed at raising money to deliver thousands of eclipse glasses to kids across Africa before the cosmic event on Sept. 1.
The eclipse itself will be an "annular" solar eclipse, meaning that the moon will pass between the Earth and the sun, casting a shadow on the planet and making the sun look like a "ring of fire" in the sky for those lucky enough to be in the shadow's path.
Although about 97 percent of the sun's light will be blotted out by the moon during the eclipse, it will still be very dangerous to look directly at the sun with unprotected eyes, and that's where the eclipse glasses come in.
If students have the chance to safely view the eclipse with their own glasses, it might just lead to a lifetime interest in science.
"Astronomy enthusiasts know how everyone is excited by the field, the power of special events like this to grab attention, and how astronomy can spark an interest in all STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] fields," Astronomers Without Borders co-founder Mike Simmons told Mashable via email.
"If my students can get these glasses, it would be like the laboratory and the field trip have been brought to our backyard"
In total, Astronomers Without Borders has raised $4,533 (at the time of publishing) of its $37,000 goal that will allow the organization to hand out up to 37,000 eclipse glasses to students in Rwanda, Ghana, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tanzania, Gabon, Nigeria and Zambia. For every dollar donated, a student in one of those countries will get a pair of glasses.
According to Simmons, more schools will be put on the list if more funds come through in this crowdfunding effort.
"If my students can get these glasses, it would be like the laboratory and the field trip have been brought to our backyard. It's so rare that an experience like an eclipse will be visible from your school, and is really a great opportunity to give these kids the experience of a lifetime," Ryan Lemon, a Peace Corp volunteer teaching physics in Rukwa, Tanzania, wrote in an email Simmons shared with Mashable.
"They have the chance [to] experience a real application of the physics they learn in the classroom, on a monumental scale."
The crowdfunding campaign has about five more days to go, and any money contributed will go toward the eclipse glasses effort, even if they don't hit their ambitious goal.
This crowdfunding effort is a more expansive version of another campaign launched by Astronomers Without Borders in 2013, which delivered about 13,700 eclipse glasses to children in Africa for an eclipse that year.
Learn more about the Astronomers Without Borders crowdfunding effort and donate directly through the funding page.
Miriam Kramer worked as a staff writer for Space.com for about 2.5 years before joining Mashable to cover all things outer space. She took a ride in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight and watched rockets launch to space from places around the United States. Miriam received her Master's degree in science, health and environmental reporting from New York University in 2012, and she originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee. Follow Miriam on Twitter at @mirikramer.
