LAPS News:

Community members of all ages are invited to view the annular solar eclipse in the Los Alamos High School inner courtyard 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14.

This free event features free eclipse glasses, viewing safety information, projection of the eclipse on a large outdoor screen, National Park Service programming, educational booths and science activities for all ages, school clubs, music and more.

All activities will pause 10-11 a.m. to allow participants to view the eclipse as it moves in and out of the annular phase with the maximum eclipse happening at 10:36:57 a.m.

This special event is being hosted by the Los Alamos Public Schools (LAPS) in a community wide collaboration with Los Alamos County Recreation Division, Los Alamos County Library System, Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC), U.S. National Park Service staff from the Bandelier National Monument and Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Pajarito Astronomers, Los Alamos MainStreet, Eye Associates and Civil Air Patrol (CAP).

Members of the committee have been planning this event for the past year and excited to share this opportunity with the community.

Los Alamos lies within the 125-mile wide path of annularity. The geographic location makes Los Alamos a part of the select few—about 0.4 percent of the entire world population— who will be in the central path of the eclipse. The sun will appear as a perfect ‘ring of fire’ when the moon passes directly between the earth and sun.

The Los Alamos High School Astronomy Club is selling t-shirts to commemorate the eclipse. Shirts cost $25 each with all proceeds going toward the club’s trip in November  to the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz. T-shirts will be on sale at the Astronomy Club table on the day of the eclipse, but may also be ordered in advance using this order form.

For more information about the community viewing, go to https://laconm.libcal.com/event/11287985. Direct questions about the event to Deborah Grothaus at d.grothaus@laschools.net.