If you can’t get away next week to totally experience totality, astronomers from the University of Minnesota Duluth say you can still enjoy Monday’s eclipse here in the Northland.
UMD’s Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium is partnering with Grandma’s Sports Garden in Duluth to hold an eclipse watching party and a chance to view the eclipse safely.
The eclipse - when the moon pases between the Earth and the sun, blocking the sun for a short time - will begin about 11:30 a.m. and end about 2:30 p.m., peaking just after 1 p.m. in Duluth.
At its peak in the Twin Ports the moon will block about 80 percent of the sun.
The eclipse will entirely block the sun for a narrow path across the center of the continent running from Oregon to South Carolina, and many eclipse buffs are heading to see it in places like Idaho and western Nebraska where weather statistics show it's most likely to be a cloudless day.
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“People who want the best experience should to get to the path of totality,” said Dr. Marc Siegar, associate dean of UMD’s Swenson College of Science and Engineering. “But you can still see some really interesting features during the partial eclipse we’ll experience here.”
The eclipse watching event is free. Outside the Sports Garden, in Duluth's Canal Park, planetarium officials will have special safety glasses on hand for people to view the eclipse, volunteers to answer questions and a high-powered telescope set up for an even better view. They also plan to work with the Sports Garden to livestream coverage of the eclipse from NASA in a mobile GeoDome planetarium and on the televisions usually reserved for sports.
