Get your viewing glasses ready. The Great North American Eclipse is almost here.
This eclipse is history-worthy because of the large number of metropolitan areas that will experience “totality,” or when the moon totally blocks the view of the sun.
While Atlanta isn’t one of them, the 85% blockage that the greater Atlanta area is likely to experience has Atlantans buzzing; stores across town on Sunday reported being sold out of special eclipse glasses, which are needed to safely view the phenomenon.
On Monday afternoon, the moon will pass between the Earth and the sun in a total solar eclipse that’ll travel from Texas to Maine. In Georgia, though, it’ll only be a partial solar eclipse that’ll cover between 82% and 85% of the sun. The partial eclipse will start around 1:45 p.m. and end at 4:20 p.m. The eclipse will reach its peak for the Atlanta area at 3:04 p.m.
While places like Fernbank Science Center and Stone Mountain Park will host viewing parties, some Atlanta residents are traveling to Indiana for the total eclipse.
Isaac Wilcox , an electronic technician who lives in Marietta, will make the seven-hour drive to Indianapolis to view the eclipse with family. In 2017, he, along with his son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, viewed the total eclipse from the North Georgia mountains.
“The next time won’t be until 2044, but I don’t know if I’m going to live that long,” he said. “That’s about 20 years and I’ll be 86 years old. Being able to see it twice in your lifetime is pretty cool.”
Linda and John W. Schumaker, a couple from Cumming, will also view the eclipse from Indiana. They left their home Saturday to see the eclipse from a farm in Shelbyville, Indiana. The pair plan to use a special eclipse kit from Sky & Telescope magazine and an eight-inch Celestron telescope that John Schumaker rigged with an oatmeal box with a hole on one end and a plastic cover on the other end to allow more people a close-up view at the same time.
Like Wilcox, they also viewed the 2017 eclipse, but from Virginia.
“It’s going to be a lot more spectacular,” said John Schumaker, a retired electrical engineer and amateur astronomer. “It gets totally dark and you can see all the corona around the sun.”
If you’re staying around in Georgia for the eclipse, here’s where you can watch it:
Fernbank Science Center A five hour “Eclipse-fest” is planned for the celestial event. Festivities start at noon. Free viewer glasses will be on hand. Festivities include food trucks, free planetarium shows and more activities. fernbank.edu/eclipse_resource.html.
Stone Mountain Park The walk-up trail and the Summit Skyride will be open to access the mountaintop for a view of the eclipse. The viewing event starts at 1:45 p.m. Only a limited number of viewing glasses will be available for sale, according to the park website. stonemountainpark.com/activity/events/eclipse.
West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Registration is required for the viewing party. Attendees are advised to park at the Outdoor Activity Center and walk up to the Historic Atlanta Black Cracker Field. The event begins at 1:30 p.m. wawa-online.org.
Tellus Science Museum The Observatory at the Cartersville, Museum will open at 12:30 p.m. Free viewer glasses will be available with admission. tellusmuseum.org/our-events/partial-solar-eclipse.
Staff writers Shelia Poole and Adrianne Murchison contributed to this report.
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