Visitors to The Children Museum in West Hartford will be able to view the partial solar eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017, through a specially-equipped telescope.

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Weather-permitting, a partial solar eclipse will be visible on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, as seen from Connecticut.

The Museum will have educators stationed with a special telescope, equipped with safe solar filter, to view the eclipse from 1:20-4 p.m.

A solar eclipse occurs when the earth, new moon, and sun align and the moon’s shadow “touches” the earth. As the earth rotates, the moon’s shadow traces a path across a portion of the earth. Any observers located within the 70-mile-wide path of the shadow (called the path of totality) will witness a total solar eclipse. Observers north or south of the path may witness a partial solar eclipse. This particular eclipse is a partial eclipse as viewed from New England.

The eclipse times for the Hartford area are:

First Contact: 1:25 p.m. (when the new moon first appears to “touch” the sun)

Maximum Partial Eclipse: 2:45 p.m. (when the moon covers 67 percent of the sun)

Final Contact: 3:59 p.m. (when the new moon has moved across the sun and no longer “touches” it)

Warning: It is not safe to view the eclipse with the naked eye or with sunglasses!

The Children’s Museum will offer eclipse viewing from 1:20-4 p.m., weather permitting. A telescope with a safe solar filter will offer direct viewing of the eclipse. Museum staff will also demonstrate how to observe the eclipse indirectly through pinhole projection. A live web stream of the solar eclipse, as seen from other locations in the U.S., will also be shown during eclipse time. Eclipse viewing is included with general museum admission.

About The Children’s Museum Family

The Children’s Museum and its Roaring Brook Nature Center are the region’s premiere destinations for exploration and education. The Museum and Nature Center features hands-on exhibits, over 200 live animals, out-of-this-world digital planetarium shows, and numerous programs for young children and families. The Children’s Museum and Preschool are located at 950 Trout Brook Dr. in West Hartford and Roaring Brook Nature Center is located at 70 Gracey Rd. in Canton. More information is available at www.TheChildrensMuseumCT.org.