Partial Solar Eclipse to Impact North Georgia

On Monday, April 8, a solar eclipse will cover a band of the United Stated stretching from Texas to Maine.

A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk.

While North Georgia will not be in the path of totality, we will experience a partial eclipse, with over 80 percent coverage. The partial eclipse will reach maximum coverage around 1:45 p.m., but light from the sun will start to be impacted around 12:30 p.m. and not return to normal until roughly 3:00 p.m.

Berry College will host a solar eclipse viewing starting at 1:30 p.m., April 8, in Berry’s football stadium. The event will be a partial eclipse in Rome with the moon covering approximately 87 percent of the sun at its maximum eclipse. Maximum eclipse will be achieved at 3:04 p.m.

Viewing the eclipse without proper precautions can result in serious side effects and eclipse glasses are highly recommended. Eclipse glasses will be offered to participants at Berry’s viewing and solar telescopes will be set up for the viewing.

You can look up your solar eclipse view by ZIP code using an interactive map put out by NASA.

The map lets people put in their zip code to see how much eclipse coverage they can expect there, and what time the eclipse will be at its peak.

—> View: NASA’S Eclipse Explorer interactive map

NASA will have live coverage of the total solar eclipse, beginning at 1 p.m. EDT.

Unfortunately, after this celestial event, NASA says the next total solar eclipse that can be seen from the United States will not occur until August 2044.