BELLVUE, Mich. — Celestial watch parties with the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society typically blow the roof off of the Owl Observatory— Literally.
Their 16’ Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope is housed in an unassuming shed.
Then the roof rolls back— giving amateur astronomers some amazing views of the night skies over Southwest Michigan.
Richard Bell – President of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society— explains tomorrow's viewing is going to be a bit different—
“This year, the festival and the Eclipse lined up perfectly. So it's a great spot to view the eclipse. So that's what we're going to be.”
Kalamazoo Astronomical Society president Richard bell says they’ll be celebrating Saturday’s solar eclipse at Crane Fest in Bellevue.
If the rain breaks tomorrow morning— Michigan will see about 39% of the eclipse.
It should start just Before 11:45 a.m. and take until 2:30 p.m. for the moon to pass between us and the sun
Rain-or-shine, the KAS will be ready at the Kiwanis Youth Conservation Area at '11-30 that morning giving Astro-enthusiasts of all ages a way to safely take a peek.
They'll be bringing telescopes equipped with solar filters and individual eclipse shades you can buy for $3.
“Even 1% of the sun's disk is not safe to view. So, with this eclipse, no matter where you are, really, you have to use protection the entire time,” says Bell.
Those eclipse shades will be handy when the total solar eclipse happens in April next year— so hang onto them.
If you haven’t gotten yours yet, check out this how-to from NASA on building a viewer from a shoe box.
