Delta College Planetarium to Host Eclipse Viewing Event

On Saturday, October 14, an annular solar eclipse will cross North, Central, and South America.

Also known as a “Ring of Fire” eclipse, the moon is too far away in its orbit at that time to completely cover the sun and so a small ring of sunlight appears to surround the disk of the New Moon. The path of annularity crosses the southwest United States from Oregon to Texas, creating a partial solar eclipse for much of the rest of the country including Michigan.

The Delta College Planetarium in Bay City will host free solar observing (weather permitting) on the planetarium’s rooftop observation deck beginning at 12 p.m. on October 14. Planetarium staff and Delta Astronomy Club volunteers will be on hand with specially filtered telescopes to provide a safe view of the eclipse. Maximum eclipse occurs at 1:02pm with 34 percent of the Sun’s disk covered by the Moon.

Certified safe eclipse viewers will be available for sale in the planetarium gift shop. The eclipse observing event is free and open to the public. Planetarium show tickets are available online at tickets.delta.edu/mainstore or purchased on site.