10 Places To Watch Saturday’s Partial Solar Eclipse Across The U.S.

09.10.2023 - 23:53 / forbes.com

This Saturday, October 14, a solar eclipse will be seen across the Americas. From inside a 125 miles wide path stretching across the U.S. Southwest and on to Central and South America, a “ring of fire” will be glimpsed for a few minutes as a smaller-looking new moon covers only the middle 90% of the sun.

In the U.S. the “lucky” states comprise Oregon, California, (a tiny slither of) Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. From everywhere outside of that path—including in those states, but also across the rest of the country—a partial solar eclipse will be seen.

For those in the northeastern U.S. the eclipse will be slight, while those in western states will see much more of the sun disappear behind the sun.

Precisely what will occur, and when, will depend on your exact location. You can find out the exact time for any location using the “eclipse lookup” option here. It will show you exactly when the eclipse will start and finish as well as how much of the sun will be blocked at the peak of the event. Here’s a sample:

Everyone will need to use solar eclipse glasses, which cost $5 each at most. Most if not all, eclipse-viewing events will be selling solar eclipse glasses for a few dollars.

A great resource for finding partial solar eclipse viewing events is National Eclipse, which has compiled a list of many dozens.

Here are 10 events around the U.S. that will be hosting a special partial solar eclipse viewing party, many of them with solar telescopes and live streams from the path of the “ring of fire:”

Carbondale, Illinois was in the path of totality for 2017’s “Great American Eclipse” and will be again on April 8. As a warm-up there’s a viewing event for this partial solar eclipse, with SIU Carbondale presenting a Saluki Football game watch party directly following. Expect solar telescopes and live feeds from across the nation. More information.

Sully Historic Site, Burke Lake Park in Fairfax County, Virginia will host a NASA-affiliated viewing event from 12:00 p.m. EDT. Naturalist and sun-spotting telescopes will feature. Bring your own chairs. The nearby Turner Farm’s roll-top observatory will give visitors a glimpse of the eclipse up close through solar telescopes—and that means awesome views of sunspots. Gates open at 11:30 a.m. More information (and sign-up) and event updates.

The United Astronomy Clubs of New Jersey will host a free public viewing of the eclipse at its observatory in Jenny Jump State Forest, with digital cameras attached to some of its solar telescopes to provide a live view of the eclipse. More information.

One of the most organized locations for April 8’s total solar eclipse is Rochester, which has plenty of partial solar eclipse events planned for