Partial eclipse of sun to pass over Athens on Saturday during halftime of Georgia game
When halftime arrives at the University of Georgia and Vanderbilt football game on Saturday, folks in Athens will have the opportunity to leave their TV sets and take to the outside to observe a partial solar eclipse of the sun.
Also known as an Annular Solar Eclipse, the sun in the Athens area will be 50% covered by the moon and this will create a “Ring of Fire,” local astronomy expert Maurice Snook said.
However, the eclipse will be too bright to view with the naked eye, so eclipse glasses are needed for this astronomical event, according to Snook.
Even without glasses people can look at the ground under bushes and see thousands of projected crescents, he said.
The Athens Astronomy Club will set up telescopes at three locations throughout Athens to give interested persons a safe way to view the eclipse. Those locations are at the Athens-Clarke County Library in Athens, the Winterville Library and Sandy Creek Nature Center.
A 'ring of fire' solar eclipse is coming Here's what you'll see in Georgia
Dinner on a bridge: Historic bridge reopens to an elegant dining event in Oconee Hill Cemetery in Athens
Say cheese: Joro spiders are everywhere in north Georgia. Researchers want your photos for this contest
Also, Snook will give a talk for youngsters at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Bogart Library and glasses will be given away free. Snook said many people may have retained their glasses from the 2017 full eclipse that passed over northeast Georgia. Also, Sandy Creek has the glasses for sale at $2 each.
Snook noted that many football games in the east will be under a maximum eclipse so it will be interesting to see how it is covered by the media.
Also Snook reported that this eclipse is just a reminder of the more important total solar eclipse that will occur on April 8, 2024. In next year's eclipse, Athens will see 80% of the eclipse. The direct path of the shadow streams across Texas through Ohio and northward.
Following that eclipse another one is not expected in the U.S. until 2045.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Safe places in Athens to view the partial eclipse of sun on Saturday
