NEW ORLEANS — The April 8th solar eclipse will cast a path of totality from Texas to Maine.
The New Orleans area will see about 85 percent of the sun covered by the moon.
Solar observer Ken Stage from Houma says he’s witnessed about 19 eclipses.
“The skies will darken, and the temperature will drop, the wind will increase, and birds will be flying, and beetles will be making sounds. It’s time to go to bed and four minutes later, the sun comes up again.
A solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and the earth.
This time, the moon will be closer to the planet than the average eclipse.
“The closer the moon is to the earth, the larger the shadow it casts on the earth, so the larger the shadow, the longer you’re in it,” University of New Orleans Astrophysicist Dr. Greg Seab said.
Seab says the maximum eclipse will last about four and a half minutes.
That’s about twice as long as the 2017 solar event seen in New Orleans.
“It’s really interesting thing to watch it progress and take more of a bite and more of a bite and a little more of a bite until it reaches maximum,” Seab said.
Eye protection is a major concern during an eclipse.
“What should you not do, never, ever look directly at the sun,” Stage said.
Dr. Seab says there’s an easy way to make sure the solar glasses you purchased are legit.
“What I have here is a pair of solar glasses. One of the keys is you can’t see through it, except a very bright light or light like the sun.”
There will be eclipse viewing events across the metro area, including one on the banks of Bayou Terrebonne at the main library in Houma.
“We have solar eclipse glasses we wrote a grant for, that we were given by NASA, and we’re going to have snacks and treats, and Mary Byrd Perkins is going to come speak about sun safety issues,” said Megan Hutchinson from the Terrebonne Parish Library.
Students and visitors will also gather to watch the eclipse on the lawn outside the UNO library.
The eclipse is expected begin around 12:30 next Monday afternoon with maximum coverage around 1:45 p.m..
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