We are beyond excited for the total solar eclipse headed over Arkansas on April 8. We’ve all heard about it, but what is it about?
We’ve put together a little bit of background information for you, and a run-down of how you can make the most out of this monumental event with a special broadcast and livestream from four strategic Arkansas locations.
WHY IS THIS ECLIPSE SO IMPORTANT?
This will be the first total solar eclipse over Arkansas in over a century – and while partial and annular eclipses happen often across the globe, a total eclipse only occurs when the moon is closest to earth in its elliptical orbit.
A total solar eclipse happens when the moon is close enough to earth to appear approximately the same size as the sun despite the sun being almost 400 times larger than the moon.
ARKANSAS PBS DOCUMENTARY EXPLORES LOCAL STORIES, PREPARATIONS FOR THE BIG EVENT
Arkansas PBS will present “TOTALITY: The Great Arkansas Eclipse,” a documentary that follows the stories of the city of Russellville and visiting NASA scientists as they spend over a year preparing for the monumental event, as well as Mekenzie Racy — an 11th-grade astronomer from Nettleton, Arkansas. The documentary premieres on Arkansas PBS on Thursday, March 28, at 7 p.m.
The documentary will re-air Monday, April 8, at 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m., before and after we come to you live with “TOTALITY: LIVE Eclipse Event Across Arkansas,” providing live coverage of this historic event as it sweeps across the state. This hour of event coverage will include interviews with science experts and other mini documentaries from around the state, highlighting the different efforts underway to celebrate the eclipse.
LIVE ECLIPSE COVERAGE STATEWIDE
NASA scientists and Arkansas PBS production crews will be in Russellville which will serve as our “home base” to bring you expert interviews from NASA scientists, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, as well as the mayor of Russellville. Because this eclipse is truly a state-wide event, so is our coverage!
Totality will begin in southwest Arkansas — so Arkansas PBS’s first correspondent will be stationed in De Queen — the community that will be in darkness longer than any other location across the state, at 4 minutes, 17 seconds. Totality in De Queen should begin around 1:46 p.m.
Next, the eclipse will reach our broadcast team in Russellville, at approximately 1:50 p.m.
Our next correspondent will be atop Petit Jean Mountain at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute — for one of the highest views of the event — where (due to its proximity to Russellville) totality is expected to begin at approximately 1:50 as well.
Finally, totality will reach Nettleton around 1:56 p.m. before passing out of the state completely.
SAFETY
With the event rapidly approaching, safety must be your first concern. You should never look at the sun without proper eye protection. Pin-hole viewers or eclipse glasses are both inexpensive options. However, standard sunglasses won’t cut it. While most sunglasses block between 40 to 50 percent of sunlight — approved eclipse glasses block 90 percent of the sun’s rays. Anything less, and you will permanently damage your eyes!