Kansas City area in path of Saturday’s annular eclipse
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Star-gazers and sky-watchers, here’s an alert for you. Weather dependent, an eclipse will be visible in the Kansas City metro this weekend, and if you’re planning on watching, make sure you have the right eye protection.
Science City at Union Station is planning on giving away 1,000 free pairs of the special safety-viewing glasses to their visitors on Saturday first come, first serve, corresponding with an eclipse watch party.
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The eclipse will start before 10:30 a.m., reach maximum coverage at 11:50 a.m., and finish by 1:20 p.m.
The last eclipse with Kansas City in its path happened in 2017. That was a total solar eclipse.
“There won’t be another one hitting the area for about another 200 years,” Patrick Hess, manager of the Arvin Gottlieb Planetarium at Union Station, said.
The one coming Saturday is what’s known as an annular eclipse.
“Again, with proper eye protection, or viewing this indirectly, it will look like the moon is taking a bite out of the sun. Now here in Kansas City, this is about as good as you’re going to get,” Hess said, projecting an image onto the planetarium.
“It doesn’t necessarily matter how rare it is, solar eclipses, lunar eclipses, they happen twice a year. The trick is you’ve got to be in the right place to see it. It could be over the ocean so you’ll miss that one,” Hess said.
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People in path of totality are between California and Texas. They will see a so-called “Ring of Fire” happening when the moon is at its further point away from the earth, making it appear smaller than usual.
Remember, regular sunglass just won’t cut it for viewing.
You might remember from six years ago, you need certain special types that filter out harmful light. Those are for sale at Science City if you would like to purchase a pair ahead of time.
