View The Solar Eclipse In Bucks County At A Party With Scientists

Bucks County Community College is hosting a viewing party for the upcoming solar eclipse that will include input from experts, a great view, and snacks. The event, to be held Monday, Aug. 21 at the Newtown Campus, is free and open to the public. The eclipse will begin at 1:21 p.m., peak around 2:44 p.m., and continue until 4 p.m.

During the event, you can view the eclipse from the patio of the school's Science Center, where there will be science professors on hand to answer your questions. Those neat glasses you've heard all about will be provided, too.

“We’ll be providing special glasses to ensure safe viewing, and participants can ask our STEM professors questions," said Professor Debra Geoghan. “Improper viewing can cause retinal damage, so we want everyone to be safe.”

Even though Bucks County is not in path of totality, "we will have a partial solar eclipse of about 80 percent coverage,” explained Geoghan, interim dean of the STEM Department, which organized the event. “It will be worthwhile to view, especially since the next total solar eclipse visible in the United States won’t be until April 8, 2024.”

According to NASA, the total solar eclipse will cross the continental United States from Salem, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. The last time a total eclipse crossed the United States from sea to sea was June 8, 1918.

The Newtown Campus is located at 275 Swamp Rd., Newtown.