Museum Of Natural History To Host Solar Eclipse Viewing Event On Upper West Side

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Need plans for next week's total solar eclipse? The American Museum of Natural History has you covered. The museum's Hayden Planetarium will hold a full day program dedicated to the incredibly rare astrological event occurring on Monday, Aug. 21.

For the first time in nearly a century, a total solar eclipse will be visible across North America, and New York City is positioned to get a good view of the event.

"On the afternoon of August 21, the Moon will pass between the Earth and the Sun, completely blocking out the Sun for about 3 minutes in a swath of North America stretching from Salem, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina," the American Museum of Natural History said on its website.

New York City will unfortunately not be in the "path of totality," but will be able to see the Moon cover about 75 percent of the sun, according to the museum. The museum will be hosting both an outdoor viewing as well as a live stream of the official NASA broadcast Monday afternoon.

The eclipse programming will be free for museum members and will cost the price of museum admission for non-members.

Here's the full schedule for the event:

• 2:00 pm – Information available in the Cullman Hall of The Universe
• 12:30 pm – Pop-up talk given by Brian Levine followed by Q&A
• 1:30 pm – *Outside Viewing (Rose Center for Earth Space and the Arthur Ross Terrace
• 4:00 pm – Event ends

The eclipse is expected to begin around 1:23 p.m. for New York City viewers with peak views occurring around 2:44 p.m.m according to the museum.

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