“The Great American Eclipse” will be here on Monday. If you haven’t already booked a hotel in its direct path, you aren’t out of luck until 2024. Most of New York will still be able to witness the eclipse at about 70% effacement, so you’ve still got time to sign up with these local viewing events.
Southern Westchester – Hudson River Museum – 12:30-3 p.m.
The Hudson River Museum in Yonkers boasts an impressive collection, as well as its own planetarium. Activities include modeling the Earth-moon system, making pinhole projectors, and a live stream of the eclipse’s path of totality from Oregon, beginning at 1 p.m. Guests can also view the partial eclipse from the courtyard with their own glasses or the planetarium’s specially filtered telescope.
Mid-Westchester – Harrison Public Library 1-4 p.m.
“The best astronomy club this side of the Oort Cloud” will host a special gathering in the Richard E. Halperin Memorial Library Building, led by Westchester Amateur Astronomers (WAA) Assistant President Claudia Parrington.
Mid-Westchester – Pace University 1:30-3 p.m.
Pace University will also be holding an eclipse viewing party at their Pleasantville campus, hosted by new University President Marvin Krislov and featuring Q&A with Adjunct Professor of Computer Science and Astronomy Matt Ganis. Refreshments will be served on Alumni Hall Quad, and eclipse glasses as well as a solar filtered telescope will be made available.
Northern Westchester – Anthony’s Nose 11 a.m.-6ish p.m.
If you’re more about the physicality of nature than its science, you might enjoy a nice hike (3.2 miles in total) up Anthony’s Nose. Meetup’s “Pagan Outdoor Adventure Group” will be popping over the border into Garrison to take a hike up the South Mountain Pass Trail. Certified eclipse glasses will be provided, but guests should bring their own food and plenty of water.
If none of that feels as convenient as relaxing at home, there’s always the option of acquiring telescope filters, specially made “sunoculars,” or relatively cheap “eclipse glasses.” The Great American Eclipse website has plenty for sale, all tested and verified for safety. (Amazon recently suspended sales and issued refunds for glasses that could not show documented safety testing.) There’s also the tried and true method of building your own pinhole projector out of an old cereal box:
The eclipse will begin around 1:23 p.m. local time, reaching totality for about two to two-and-a-half minutes around 2:45 p.m., before waning until 4 p.m. Never directly view an eclipse without protective eyewear.
