The solar eclipse coming Monday morning promises to be an exciting event, but trying to watch it without proper eye protection could cause serious eye damage.
To help ensure a good experience, members of the Okanagan Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada are inviting the public to join them for the Aug. 21 eclipse at Okanagan College. Returnable approved solar eclipse glasses will be made available and the club will also set up a number of special solar telescopes to allow the public to observe dark sunspots on the sun’s surface as well as bright red prominences around the edge, complementing the advancing eclipse.
The eclipse will be total in a narrow band crossing the United States, extending from Oregon to South Carolina. As viewed from the Okanagan Valley, the event will be seen as a partial solar eclipse in which a dramatic 83 per cent of the sun’s disk will become covered by the moon.
From the Okanagan, the first bite out of the sun will occur about 9:12 a.m., building to greatest coverage around 10:24 a.m. The moon will then gradually move off the sun’s disk, exiting at around 11:41 a.m., ending the event.
The gathering will take place from about 9 a.m. to noon. RASCOC organizers encourage car pooling, using public transit or biking as large numbers of people are expected to attend.
For those in the southern parts of the Valley, there is also an eclipse viewing event planned for Desert Park, near Osoyoos.
Related: Special event to view solar eclipse