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Safe Viewing Tips & Where To View The Eclipse In San Antonio

Greg Hewgill, Wikimedia Commons

The sun will be 61 percent obscured during Monday's solar eclipse over San Antonio.  It begins at 11:40 a.m., with maximum obscurity at 1:09 p.m.

Eclipse parties across San Antonio:

  • San Antonio College’s Scobee Education Center will host a viewing party Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m, at 1819 N. Main.  The Scobee Planetarium will have solar telescope viewing, as well as a limited number of solar filter glasses and pin hole viewers to safely catch a glimpse of the eclipse.  
  • City of Schertz hosts a viewing party Monday from 12:30 p.m.-2 p.m. at Crescent Bend Nature Park, 12805 W. Schaefer Rd.  Eclipse viewing glasses are provided for those who registered in advance, and registration is closed.  Bring viewing glasses
  • Our Lady of the Lake University, St. Anthony Courtyard, 12:30-1:30 p.m.  Eclipse goggles will be available for people to share at the event, and one telescope will be equipped with a solar viewing filter.
  • San Antonio Public Library branches are hosting eclipse viewing events.  Details at http://mysapl.org/Events-News/Events-Calendar
  • Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas, 811 N. Coker Loop, on the front lawn.  Bring lawn chairs and blankets.  First 150 visitors receive solar glasses and a Girl Scout patch!

 ECLIPSE TIPS:

  • NASA recommends not looking through a camera, telescope, or binoculars while wearing optical eclipse filters.  And NEVER stare directly at the sun without proper protection.

 

  • If you can’t find a pair of eclipse glasses, NASA recommends looking for a set of welder’s goggles that are Shade 12 or higher.  

 

  • A pinhole projector is another inexpensive way to view an eclipse.  Punch a hole in an index card and pass sunlight through the hole onto a nearby surface, such as another card, a wall, or the ground.

 

  • Or, more simply, criss cross your fingers together with some space in between, creating a waffle pattern.  With your back to the sun, your hands’ shadow will project a grid of the eclipse on the ground.  Shadows of leafy trees will also project images of the eclipse.

 

Norma Martinez can be reached at norma@tpr.org and on Twitter at @NormDog1