On Saturday, Oct 14th, you can see a solar eclipse around 12:07 p.m.

A solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, and they happen more often than one would think.

The Huntsville-Madison area will not be able to see the full eclipse as it is not lined up with the eclipse’s path. According to NPR, the eclipse’s path is a line that travels up through Texas. After that, it will go through northern New Mexico. Then it will travel up to Nevada and Oregon. It will head out to the ocean. The Huntsville-Madison area will only see about 50% of it.

If you have not experienced an eclipse before, you will need to wear a special pair of glasses to protect your eyes from the sun. If you were to look at the eclipse without your glasses for long enough, it could cause blindness and retinal burns within your eyes. You can also make a pinhole projector. 

UAH will be hosting an event on campus where you can get the special glasses. They will be talking and educating others on these types of events. It will be in the Changer Union building. This event will be going on from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. You can read more about this event by clicking HERE.

Solar eclipses do not last long. Some of the shortest ones only lasted about 10 seconds, and some of the longest can last up to 7 and a half minutes. The one that will last this 7.5 minutes will be on July 16, 2186. So most of us, if not all of us, will not live to see the day of the 7.5-minute-long solar eclipse. 

We did have a solar eclipse back in 2017. It was incredibly close. To see it fully, you would just have to drive up the Nashville. That eclipse was a much bigger deal in the Madison and Huntsville area, compared to this eclipse that is happening this weekend.