On Wednesday, August 12, skywatchers across New Jersey will have the opportunity to witness a partial solar eclipse early in the afternoon.

While parts of Greenland, Iceland, and northern Spain will experience a total solar eclipse, where the Moon completely covers the Sun, those in New Jersey will see a partial solar eclipse, with the Moon covering only a part of the Sun. For viewers in Jersey City, the eclipse will begin at 1:08pm and will end at 2:37pm. The maximum point of the eclipse, where the Moon will be covering almost 10% of the Sun, will occur at 1:54pm.

It is incredibly important to never look directly at the Sun, both on a normal day and during any partial Solar Eclipse.To observe the Sun safely you can wear ISO 12312-2 certified eclipse glasses, telescopes or binoculars equipped with solar filters, or indirectly using a pinhole projector. If you have eclipse glasses left over from a previous eclipse, they can still be used as long as you verify there has been no damage to them. Whatever safe viewing method you choose, what we’ll see from New Jersey is a small “bite” missing from one edge of the Sun that slowly gets larger from 1:08pm to 1:54pm and then slowly goes away until 2:37pm.

Join us at Liberty Science Center where we will have safe viewing methods for all of our guests, including eclipse glasses, speciality solar telescopes, and a variety of pinhole projectors. We’ll also be broadcasting a live feed from telescopes in the path of the total solar eclipse!