A partial solar eclipse is coming to Clemson next week, and the Department of Physics and Astronomy is hosting a viewing event with fun and educational activities.
The partial solar eclipse, during which more than 80% of the sun will be blocked, will pass through Clemson just after 3 p.m. Monday, April 8.
A partial eclipse is not the same dramatic experience as a total eclipse, which the Upstate experienced in 2017, but it still offers an interesting viewing experience of an uncommon phenomenon. The next total solar eclipse that will pass over the continental United States will be in 2044.
The solar eclipse viewing event will be held noon-4 p.m. on the lawn between Martin, Long and Kinard.
Stations at the event will offer ice cream made using liquid nitrogen and the chance to make your own pinhole camera. Information on general relativity and eclipses will be presented, and the planetarium will be showing presentations on eclipse science at noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
Once the eclipse approaches its peak in other parts of the country — the path of totality is passing in an arc from Texas to Maine — the totality will be livestreamed in the planetarium and on monitors elsewhere inside Kinard Laboratory of Physics.
Eclipse glasses will be available for safe viewing, while supplies last.
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