August 21st marks the solar event of the century, an eclipse of the sun. Although Richland County is not in the "path of totality", residents will still enjoy a 90% partial eclipse and bear witness to one of nature's most awe inspiring sights.
The Sidney-Richland County Library will kick off the day at 10am with three different activity stations that will give children and their families an interactive way to dive deeper into the science surrounding a partial eclipse, where the moon covers part of the sun's disk. Participants will be able to make eclipse chalk art, learn how to use the sun to tell time, and create ultraviolet light detectors. "It will be a fun morning to witness a natural phenomenon in North America that won't happen again until the year 2024", explains Danelle Benz, Teen & Adult Program Librarian.
Then at 10:30am the real show begins as the moon begins to track its way across the sun. The library will be giving away free solar eclipse glasses for viewing. The library received a grant for 1,000 glasses. "We were so excited to be able to give these out at no charge. Glasses can be picked up any time prior to and the day of the event. So far we have already given out over 100 glasses", explained Kelly Reisig, Library Director. It's important to note that directly looking at the sun is unsafe. The only way to look directly at the partially eclipsed sun is through special-purpose solar filers, such as eclipse glasses.
The eclipse maximum will take place at around 11:47am and then the moon will recede until about 1:08pm. The Library will begin a Facebook Live feed during the event. Stay up to date, post your own photos and share the Facebook Live event by visiting http://www.facebook.com/sidneyrichlandlibrary
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