Local museums, libraries to host eclipse viewing parties Monday

An amateur astronomer prepares her telescope a day before a total solar eclipse in Mazatlan, Mexico, Sunday, April 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

SAN DIEGO – San Diego County will have one of the state’s best views of tomorrow’s rare solar eclipse, with several local organizations hosting eclipse viewing parties.

No place in California will see the total solar eclipse, which will darken skies along a 115-mile-wide path across North America, but San Diego, Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino counties will get close to a 60 percent eclipse in their eastern-most extremities.

The total eclipse, where the moon fully blocks the light of the sun for several minutes, will make landfall along Mexico’s Pacific coast and cross into Texas and 14 other U.S. states, before exiting over Canada.

San Diego’s Fleet Science Center will host a free solar-eclipse viewing party outside the Fleet in front of the Bea Evenson Fountain starting at 9 a.m. Monday. The partial solar eclipse will begin at 10:03 a.m. when the moon appears to touch the sun’s edge.

The center will have NASA 3-D eclipse glasses for sale and an IMAX live stream of the total eclipse.

The climax, when the moon is closest to the center of the sun — covering about 54 percent of the sun’s diameter — will be partially visible from San Diego at 11:11 a.m. Viewers will see the most exciting moments between 10:45 and 11:45 a.m., with the eclipse concluding at 12:23 p.m. when the moon leaves the sun’s edge.

Local astronomy and eclipse experts from UC San Diego, San Diego State and the San Diego Astronomy Association will be available to answer questions, and hands-on demonstration stations will feature crafting eclipse projectors.

At 10 a.m., the Julian Dark Sky Network will host an eclipse viewing party at the Julian Library. The free event will include pairs of eclipse viewing glasses as well as solar telescopes set up to view sunspots and solar flares.

Other libraries will host viewing events around the city. More information can be found here.

Experts remind citizen astronomers that it’s essential to wear proper eye protection when looking at the sun, which can otherwise lead to permanent eye damage. The eclipse is only safe to witness with the naked eye during totality, or the period of total darkness when the moon completely covers the sun.

They also cautioned that regular sunglasses are not protective enough.

The moon will shroud the sun for up to 4 minutes, 28 seconds on Monday. The celestial event is expected to draw millions of people to cities and towns in the path of the totality.

The next partial eclipse visible in San Diego will be on Jan. 14, 2029. The U.S. won’t see another total eclipse until 2044. (CNS)