Get Ready For The July 21st Partial Eclipse

Bishop Museum is now providing an overview of the upcoming partial solar eclipse that is expected to occur over the Hawaiian Islands on Tuesday, July 21st.  On that day the state will experience a partial eclipse in the late afternoon.  But this weekend and Monday, July 20th at 11:30 am Bishop Museum’s Planetarium show The Sky Tonight will provide information on how to view this astronomical event.  Planetarium programs are included with Museum admission. 

“Recent reports about this eclipse say that it occurs on Wednesday July 22.  However, if someone try tries to view the eclipse from Hawai‘i on July 22, they’ll be a day late,” said Mike Shanahan, Director of Exhibits, Education, and Planetarium.  “In Asia, on the other side of the International Date Line, this eclipse does indeed occur on July 22 and will be the longest total solar eclipse of the century.” 

It is never safe to view any phase of a partial solar eclipse directly.  Bishop Museum’s Shop Pacifica does carry safe viewing devices at a very affordable price.

The moon will start to take a small bite out of the sun at 5:20 pm on July 21st.  By 6:14 pm, roughly an hour before sunset, the eclipse will be over.  These times are roughly the same for all the main Hawaiian Islands, though timings will vary slightly based on location.  In Hilo, for example, the eclipse will start at 5:24 pm and end at 6:15 pm.  In Līhue, the eclipse will start at 5:18 pm and end by 6:14 pm.  In Lāhaina, the eclipse will start at 5:22 pm and end by 6:14 pm.

“While a minor partial solar eclipse in Hawai‘i , this will be a deep and dramatic total eclipse over parts of China, India and the South Pacific,” added Shanahan.

For more information, please contact, Mike Shanahan at 847-8235 or mikes@bishopmuseum.org.  More information on all solar and lunar eclipses is also located at NASA’s eclipse web site: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html. 

Planetarium Note:  The Planetarium will close from Tuesday July 28 through Thursday July 30, inclusive, for maintenance.  During the Wednesday and Thursday that the planetarium is closed, Bishop Museum will provide Starlab inflatable planetarium shows in Atherton Hālau at the regular times (11:30am , 12:45pm Japanese show, 1:30pm, and 3:30 pm ).  All of the shows are 25 minutes.

Bishop Museum is open Wednesday through Monday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm; it is closed on Tuesdays.

-pau-