News

Touch new stamp and presto, total solar eclipse becomes moon

Posted April 27, 2017 7:00 am

By MARCIA DUNN

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (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 moon. 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 total solar eclipse 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 summer solstice.

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Online:

Postal Service: http://about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm

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) The Associated Press

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