FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - As South Florida prepares for next week’s partial solar eclipse, officials are stressing safety first.
Millions will experience a total solar eclipse, and millions more, including people in South Florida will see it partially.
As exciting as it may be to witness an eclipse with your own eyes, not wearing protected glasses could cause permanent vision damage.
South Florida organizations, including the Frost Science Museum in Miami and Broward County Libraries, are providing free protected glasses and hosting special activities.
“We have a planetarium show, which will explain what is happening with the eclipse. We’ll have hands-on activities,” said Douglas Roberts with the Frost Science Museum.
At the Broward County Main Library, children are welcome to watch the eclipse from their location and learn more about what is happening.
“What the eclipse is, how often they happen. If they have their glasses, they can go out on a terrace and take a look at it,” said Jill Sears with the Broward County Library.
The total eclipse will cut across Texas and head northeast.
States in the direct path will see almost total darkness for more than four minutes, as the moon passes between Earth and the sun.
“It’s gonna be a little longer, because the moon is closer in its orbit to Earth,” said Heather Futrell, NASA’s Heliophysics Program Executive.
If you can’t get a pair of protected glasses before the partial eclipse, officials say, it is safest to stand under a tree and look down.
“The way the leaves cover up each other make pinhole cameras, and you’ll see projections of millions of little crescents on the ground,” said Roberts.
7News live coverage of the total eclipse will begin Sunday with Jack Royer in Dallas, TX.
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