Solar Eclipse In The Hudson Valley: What You Need To Know

America has never seen a sun party like the solar eclipse bash that will take place nationwide Aug. 21. Even the Hudson Valley will get into the act, plunged into partial darkness for a few moments between late morning and early afternoon in what NASA is calling the “Great American Eclipse.” Hundreds of events are going on around the country.

In lucky communities along a band from Salem, Oregon, to Charleston, South Carolina, only the shimmering corona of the sun will be visible as the moon completely masks the blazing orb.

For the Hudson Valley, it's a 70 percent eclipse. Good enough, don't you think? The partial phases start in our area at 1:23 pm, reach a maximum of 70 percent effacement of the sun's disk at 2:45 pm, and end at 4 pm. Make sure you use proper eye protection if you are viewing the partial stages, the Westchester Amateur Astronomers club warns. Eclipse glasses are available on many sites on the Internet for quick delivery. (SIGN UP: get Patch’s daily newsletter, news alerts and updates, or download the Patch App.)

And that's not the only eclipse this month. There will be a total lunar eclipse Aug. 7. Sadly, that's only going to be visible on the other side of the world. Lunar eclipses occur two to four times per year, when the moon passes through some portion of the Earth's shadow, according to Space.com. Lunar and solar eclipses happen in pairs, with the lunar eclipse happening within two weeks of a solar eclipse. The Aug. 7 lunar is associated with the Aug. 21 solar eclipse.

SEE ALSO: Perseids: Summer Meteor Shower Peak Weekend in the Hudson Valley

As for that solar eclipse: For an event that will last only about an hour and a half from start to finish, Americans are going to a lot of fuss. For eclipse chasers, it’s the party of a lifetime. A phenomenon like this, in which the eclipse barrels across the entire continental United States, hasn’t happened in 99 years. It was June 8, 1918, and America had just gotten out of World War I.

Total solar eclipses aren’t all that rare. They occur about once every 18 months and are visible from at least some place on the Earth’s surface. But it would take a millennium for every geographic location in the continental U.S. to see the phenomenon, NASA says.

If you can’t make it to one of the cities in the path of the total eclipse, NASA will have live video from several cities.

Locally, Westchester Amateur Astronomers Assistant Vice President Claudia Parrington will be hosting a viewing event at the Harrison Library. Order your eclipse glasses online and bring them ( there will be some at the library), according to the WAA.

Beforehand, at the Gardiner Library in Ulster County, astronomy professor Tom Crepet will look at the various aspects of eclipses including some important historical eclipses, their prediction, the different types, how to observe them, and the mechanisms that bring them together. Fri., Aug. 18, 133 Farmer's Turnpike, Gardiner.

NASA, the Adler Planetarium of Chicago and Louisiana Space Consortium are throwing a huge eclipse camp-in. It’s one of dozens of parties, festivals and viewing events that are planned all along the eclipse path. More eclipse events can be found on NASA’s solar eclipse website.

Eclipse chasers should have planned their excursions by now. The total eclipse touches 14 states — only 12 if you consider the Montana and Iowa “eclipse controversy” — and duration times vary, depending on whether cities are at the eclipse’s center line or are located north or south. Eclipse2017.org has put together a list of the best cities to see the eclipse.

Safety: See It, But Don’t See It

Regardless of how much sunlight is blocked out, the eclipse is one of those “see it, but don’t see it” events. In other words, don’t look directly at the sun, except during totality — which elapses so quickly that it’s not a good idea, even then. Looking directly at a solar eclipse, whether total or partial, can seriously and permanently injure your eyes.

Your sunglasses won’t protect you. You can buy special glasses commercially — we found these eclipse glasses on Amazon.com for $12.69 — but you may want to check with local science museums, schools and astronomy clubs for certified glasses. Or you can make your own sun funnel or pinhole camera.

Superstitions: The Bear Ate The Sun

Legends in ancient cultures attributed the temporary disappearance of the sun to celestial dragons and other mythical creatures, wolves and even giant frogs who either ate the sun or stole it. Among some cultures, the solar eclipse was a foreboding sign the gods were angry or that the siblings the sun and the moon were quarreling, according to timeanddate.com. In many cultures, “eclipse” means to eat.

Among the Pomo, an indigenous group of people who lived in the Northwest United States, the literal translation of “eclipse” is “got bit by a bear.” The legend is that a bear mixed it up with the sun and took a bite out of it and then decided to have a slice of moon as well, causing a lunar eclipse.

Scientists and astronomers long ago solved the riddle of the solar eclipse — it’s simply what happens when the moon masks the sun as it passes in front of it. Still, some superstitions remain in modern culture, including that solar eclipses are dangerous for pregnant women and their unborn children, or that food cooked during an eclipse is poisonous.

In Italy, though, the superstitions aren’t as gloomy as the sky when the moon blots out the sun. Instead, the eclipse is prime flower planting time; it’s believed they will bloom brighter and more colorful than flowers planted at other times of the year.

Other claims about negative effects on human behavior have been debunked by scientists. So go out and enjoy the eclipse with unfettered joy. Make sure you protect your eyes, though.

Feature photo by Rob Stothard/Getty Images News/Getty Images

By Beth Dalbey (Patch National Staff). Patch Editor Lanning Taliaferro contributed to this report.