April 27, 2017

Touch new stamp and presto, total solar eclipse becomes moon

by Marcia Dunn

Touch new stamp and presto, total solar eclipse becomes moon
This image provided by the U.S. Postal Service shows a Total Solar Eclipse Forever stamp. The stamp, that when touched transforms the image of the blacked-out sun into the moon, comes out in June 2017, on the Summer Solstice. (U.S. Postal Service via AP)

The U.S. Postal Service is going all out for this summer's total solar eclipse, with a first-of-its kind stamp.

Just touch the stamp with your finger, and the heat transforms the image of the blacked-out sun into the . Remove your finger, and the eclipse reappears. The trick is using temperature-sensitive ink.

There's a map on the back of the stamp sheet showing the eclipse's diagonal path across the U.S. on Aug. 21, as the moon covers the sun in the sky.

It will be the first visible in the contiguous United States since 1979 and the first one coast to coast since 1918.

Announced Thursday, the Forever 49 cent stamp comes out in June—on the .

Touch new stamp and presto, total solar eclipse becomes moon
These images provided by the U.S. Postal Service shows The Total Solar Eclipse Forever stamp. The Postal Service will soon release a first-of-its-kind stamp that changes when you touch it, which commemorates the Aug. 21 eclipse, transforming into an image of the Moon from the heat of a finger. (U.S. Postal Service via AP)

© 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Citation: Touch new stamp and presto, total solar eclipse becomes moon (2017, April 27) retrieved 1 June 2023 from https://phys.org/news/2017-04-presto-total-solar-eclipse-moon.html
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