Monday, August 21, the moon passes directly between the earth and the sun for a rare, majority solar eclipse. In parts of Wyoming and Nebraska, there will be a full solar eclipse.

At Colorado State University, the College of Natural SciencesLittle Shop of Physics is spearheading eclipse activities on campus.

On-campus Viewing

On campus, people will have viewing opportunities on the fields near the intersection of Meridian and University avenues. They will have two telescopes set up to project the eclipse, a disco ball that will project hundreds of images of the partially eclipsed sun on a screen, mirror cards for folks to do their own projections – and students to explain what’s going on. They’ll also have viewing glasses.

In Fort Collins, the eclipse will begin at 10:23 a.m., reach its maximum – 95 percent coverage – at 11:47 a.m., and conclude at 1:14 p.m.

Safe Viewing

It is dangerous to look directly at the sun – especially during eclipse events, when the reduced intensity decreases your natural tendency to blink or look away.

That’s why Little Shop made 50,000 pairs of sun-safe, disposable eclipse-viewing glasses. They donated about 30,000 of these glasses to the Poudre School District, providing one pair for each student in the entire district. The other 20,000 are going to be distributed to the CSU community at Ram Welcome, the Kids Music Adventure at NewWestFest, and at the on-campus eclipse event itself.

When is the Next Total Solar Eclipse?

In case you miss this one, the next total solar eclipse in this part of the country will occur 28 years from now and will pass just south of Denver. Another total solar eclipse will travel over U.S. soil from Texas through Maine in just seven years, April 8, 2024. Prior to this year’s event, the most recent total solar eclipse to pass over the continental United States was in 1979. Many partial solar eclipses have been visible from various places in the country since then.

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