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Fernbank Science Center gets ready for eclipse

By Carl Willis
By Carl Willis

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — With less than a week before the solar eclipse, you can get a preview of exactly what it'll look like.

Visitors at the Fernbank Science Center in DeKalb County have been treated to a simulation of the big day.

Channel 2's Carl Willis has seen this display twice and says it's almost like the real thing and it might even be better depending on the weather next Monday.

Visitor Sandra Walker brought her family to get a preview in the planetarium.

"This is just one way to make it concrete not just something that they read in a book. They'll remember this experience," she said.

Planetary geologist Scott Harrist ran a few scenarios for Willis from totality up in Rabun County to the more subtle experience Atlanta is expected to receive.

"Not looking directly at the sun but looking out on the horizon seeing if the horizon looks any different, seeing if it gets red. Does the sky get silvery? Does the temperature drop any," he explained during a test.

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Harrist says we can all hope for that great moment but if weather doesn't cooperate, then there's always Fernbank's planetarium. There’s also much smaller ways of experiencing the eclipse like looking at the light filter through leaves.

"You can even take a colander out or even a Ritz cracker and look at the light filtering through those holes and you can actually see the moon taking a bite out of the sun," he said.

Folks now have clearer idea of what to expect and how quickly it will be gone.

"I think it's definitely what you want to make of it but this was definitely very surreal. I'm very excited to see it on Monday," Casey Bellagamba, a visitor at the planetarium, said.

They'll have more shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as well as two free showings and a day of activities next Monday.

For more coverage of the total solar eclipse, click here.

Cox Media Group

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