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Scobee event is listed as an official NASA eclipse event for San Antonio.
By J. Carbajal
A solar eclipse, which is being referred to as the Great American Eclipse, will occur Aug. 21 and will be visible in most of North America and in parts of South America.
Scobee Education Center has purchased 1,000 special solar filter glasses for the eclipse viewing 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. that day, Director Rick Varner said April 19.
While it is a total solar eclipse, from San Antonio only a partial eclipse will be visible.
Although it is safe to look directly at a total eclipse, when the sun is completely covered by the moon, viewing a partial eclipse can cause permanent retinal damage, according to NASA’s “Eye Safety During Solar Eclipses” article.
The Powell Star Deck and surrounding terraces will be open for the community to view the eclipse.
However, there will be water main construction in the center of campus that could cause a shift in event location, Varner said.
On NASA’s site for general eclipse events, viewers are encouraged to register to secure solar viewing glasses once the registering site is up because similar events have drawn crowds of more than 1,000.
It is also listed that there will be educational activities and other planetarium presentations related to the solar eclipse.
Plans are not yet complete.
The eclipse is being called the Great North American Eclipse because it is the first total solar eclipse that is visible in the continental United States since 1979, and the next will not occur until 2024, according to timeanddate.com.
