When to Watch
The show will start in the New York City area around 1:25 p.m., Mon., Aug. 21, as the moon's shadow begins to move across the sun, and last until about 4 p.m. Maximum coverage will occur for one to two minutes at 2:44 p.m. EST.
"It will not look or feel normal," Jackie Faherty, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History, said. "It will look strange to you, if it's a clear day. It will look like the Death Star [from Star Wars] is moving in front of the sun slowly."
Faherty said about 71 percent of the sun will be covered by the moon's shadow at the peak in this area. To see the full eclipse, you will have to go to path of totality — the broad band stretching from South Carolina across the country up to Oregon (where hotel rooms are all but sold out and plane fare very expensive.)
Where to Watch
- Anywhere with an unobstructed view of the sun, like a rooftop or open field, like Central Park's Great Lawn.
- The Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium will give viewing and informational talks starting at noon. Astronomers will answer questions, and you'll be able to buy solar eclipse glasses or use the museum's telescopes.
- A few public library branches will have lessons on how to make pinhole projectors to view the eclipse, including the Clinton Hill Library in Brooklyn and the Spuyten Duyvil branch in the Bronx. The Pelham Bay branch in the Bronx will have free eclipse glasses.
- The Amateur Astronomers Association of New York is holding a viewing at Pioneer Works in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and will have solar glasses and telescopes with sun filters available for viewing.
How to Watch
You should never look directly at the sun, especially during a solar eclipse. Several institutions around New York will be giving out special solar glasses for free on the day of the eclipse, but if you're looking to secure yours sooner, there are a few guidelines you should follow.
The American Astronomical Society has released a list of reputable sellers. Be sure to look for this on your glasses: ISO 12312-2. Warby Parker was giving out free glasses at their shops earlier this week, but had run out by Friday.
And during the event, Amateur Astronomer Katherine Troche said make sure you give your eyes a rest, too.
"There's a general rule of thumb, it's the 20-20-20 rule," she said, explaining that viewers should follow an interval rule. "Twenty seconds of viewing the sun with the [solar] glasses, and then 20 seconds of relaxing your eyes, and then another 20 seconds of looking at something else," she explained.
There are also indirect ways to view the eclipse, like through pinhole projectors. Pesnell said he doesn't recommend using solar glasses for children under 6; instead, he suggests making a simple viewer.
NASA has a guide on how to make one using a cereal box.
Why to Watch
This will be the first total solar eclipse to cross the entire continental United States in about 99 years.
"It's an opportunity for the 300 million people that live in the United States, plus the people in Canada and Mexico, to have access to a total solar eclipse without being too inconvenienced," said NASA Scientist Dean Pesnell, stationed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Pesnell said most eclipses are hard to see because they occur over the water; but in this case many people are close enough to drive to the path of totality
Pesnell said the path of this eclipse is good for scientists, too, because they'll be able to observe the event with land-based equipment, rather than having to carry telescopes and other devices onto boats. That could help us better understand the celestial bodies involved, as well as how the cooler temperatures that take place during the eclipse affect our atmosphere.