AMERICUS — The Department of Geology and Physics at Georgia Southwestern State University is preparing for the upcoming solar eclipse on Monday, Aug. 21. In Americus, the eclipse will attain 92 percent coverage of the Sun by the Moon. The eclipse will start at 1:08 p.m. EST and end at 4:04 p.m., with the maximum eclipse at 2:39 p.m.
Safety is being stressed, again and again. Do not look at the sun without adequate eye protection! Sunglasses are not enough and be sure that any solar eclipse glasses you might use are properly certified. There has been a recall so check; better to be safe than sorry later.
On the GSW campus in Monday, Svilen Kostov, Ph.D., will have a group out in Centennial Plaza near the Storm Dome from 1:30-4 p.m. They will have various safe methods of viewing the eclipse including homemade viewers and an 8-inch telescope with a solar filter.
For those who don’t wish to go outside, GSW will be broadcasting live from the Agerton Observatory via GSW’s YouTube channel, found at https://www.youtube.com/GeorgiaSouthwestern.
The broadcast will be from 1-4:15 p.m. Many thanks to Bob Slenker, Dean Crumbley and Royce Hackett for making the broadcast possible.
Read more in Saturday’s edition.
— Beth Alston