GREAT FALLS – Great Falls College MSU will host a solar eclipse viewing on Aug. 21, and invites the community to attend.
This will be the first time in 99 years that a total solar eclipse will occur across the entire continental United States, according to a June 21 press release from NASA.
The NASA release states that the only safe way to look at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed sun is through special-purpose solar filters, such as eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers. Homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, even very dark ones, are not safe for looking at the sun. For more information on viewing safety, visit: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety.
GFC MSU will have approximately 500 eclipse-safe viewing glasses available to students, faculty, staff and the community on a first-come, first-served basis during the viewing. The college will also show NASA’s livestream of the eclipse in the Weaver Library.
“It’s not every day you get the chance to see a solar eclipse,” said Laura Wight, director of eLearning and library services. “We hope the community will join us to experience this incredibly rare event.”
The solar eclipse viewing, held at Great Falls College MSU, 2100 16th Ave. S., will start at 10 a.m. on Aug. 21, on the northeast edge of campus. In Great Falls, the eclipse will begin at 10:19 a.m. and will peak at 11:35 a.m. While Great Falls will not see a full solar eclipse, the sun will be about 89 percent obscured at its peak.
This event is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact:
Erin Granger
Marketing Specialist
Phone: 406.771.4314
[email protected]
Lewis Card
Executive Director—Development, Communications & Marketing
Phone: 406.771.4412
[email protected]
