DEKALB COUNTY, Ga — A rare solar eclipse will make the lights go out in Georgia (sort of) this weekend, and the Fernbank Science Center in DeKalb County has a big event planned for the occasion.
It’s hosting its yearly Octoberfest Saturday, giving the community a great place to view the celestial phenomenon. This is a free event that offers a variety of science activities.
“Oftentimes we forget that science is a part of our natural life, and the eclipse is a wonderful reminder of that,” said Janetta Greenwood, the science center director. “This is a wonderful experience, and I believe in experiential learning.”
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During the eclipse, the center will allow visitors to look through large telescopes that have solar filters for eye protection. It will also give out solar safety glasses.
The annular solar eclipse is expected to be visible shortly after 11 a.m. Saturday, with its peak viewing time just after 1 p.m. An annular eclipse occurs when the moon comes between the sun and the Earth. Because the moon is at its farthest distance from the planet, it appears small and doesn’t obscure the sun’s entire disk. Instead, a thin, bright outer ring is formed around the moon, making this eclipse known as the “Ring of Fire.”
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Channel 2 Chief Meteorologist Brad Nitz said in Metro Atlanta, the moon will cover 52 percent of the sun.
“Late morning, when this eclipse begins, you’ll first notice just a little sliver of the moon moving towards the sun,” Nitz said. “It peaks a little after one p.m. About half of the sun will be covered by the moon. That’s not enough to make it dark, but it might be like a cloud coming across the sun.”
The science center, located on Heaton Park Drive, will open Saturday at 10 a.m. Jaden Spelmon, a ninth-grade student with classes at the science center, plans to watch the eclipse here. “I’m looking forward to the darkness and the shadows,” he said. “I find that interesting – how the moon blocks the sun.”
His teacher at the center, Sean Fankhauser, said in the days leading up to the eclipse, he’s been “instilling some inspiration and curiosity in students.”
“I try not to tell them what to look for, but have them use their senses and observe things that might be changing around them,” he said.
While in our part of the country, the eclipse won’t have that ring of fire appearance – like it will in the western U.S. – the director of the Fernbank Science Center says it will be educational and memorable. “You still have the opportunity to see how the moon creates the shadow and creates some level of darkness.”
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