Why wait for a total solar eclipse to search for Vulcanoids?
The glare of the Sun makes it very difficult to search for faint objects close to the Sun. During the brief period of totality during a total solar eclipse, the moon blocks most of the glare from the Sun. It is not mandatory to wait for totality to search for Vulcanoids. However, without very special equipment that can shield a detector from the Sun’s glare, is extremely difficult to search for Vulcanoids outside of totality. Even with special shielding, one must overcome the problem of daytime sky glow and/or the problem of the thick dusty light-extinguishing atmosphere near the horizon. For most people, a total solar eclipse is needed to view faint objects within 10.5° of the center of the solar disk See Question 3.1: “Where is the most likely place to find Vulcanoids?”.
