A Bite of the Sun: Solar Eclipse Viewing on Talcott Mtn.

Hold the afternoon of April 8th for a special event on Talcott Mountain! Register below to receive word of updates here on the website for our eclipse festival “A Bite of the Sun: Solar Eclipse Viewing on Talcott Mountain.”

Put a * on your calendar for April 8th!

A dramatic astronomical event happens in mid-afternoon on Monday, 8 April 2024. Estimates are that several hundred million people in North American will that day experience some part of a solar eclipse­, with approximately 32 million directly in the path of the Moon’s shadow as it sweeps from northern Mexico through the United States’ Midwest and across its northeast. Those in this “path of totality” will witness a total solar eclipse as the Moon’s shadow sweeps over them—its disk completely covering the Sun for approximately four minutes.

We in Connecticut will not be in the path of totality for April’s eclipse, but, if skies are clear, we will be able to observe a deep partial solar eclipse—for us in the Hartford area, more than 93% of the Sun’s diameter will be covered by the Moon. We Connecticuters will have to wait until 2078 for the next such deep partial solar eclipse and until 2079 for a total solar eclipse visible from here.

A Festival named “A Bite of the Sun”

We at Talcott Mountain Science Center & Academy wish to connect us here on the Mountain with those in the greater community and offer us all a setting to experience the celestial splendor of the upcoming solar eclipse.

We will conduct a free public learning festival we are calling the “A Bite of the Sun: Solar Eclipse Viewing on Talcott Mountain.” During the afternoon of Monday the 8th, we plan to open our campus and invite individuals and small groups to join us in TMSCA-conducted activities related to eclipse. Included in the slate of anticipated activities are:

• “Nature-Made Eclipse” informational sessions in the TMSCA Planetarium
• Eclipse safety informational sessions in the TMSCA Planetarium
• Hands-on activity stations with eclipse- and general-science-related activities
• Stations on safe solar imaging (incl. “making a pinhole camera”)
• Realtime feed in the Planetarium of the eclipse from a location in the path of totality
• Realtime announcements across the TMSCA campus of eclipse updates

THIS EVENT HAS REACHED CAPACITY.

Add your name to the waitlist and we’ll contact you if space opens up.

Thank you to the following for supporting this event:

*Photo credit: Exploratorium