Fernbank Science Center hosts eclipse viewing event

ATLANTA - Talk about a 50th-anniversary celebration -- Fernbank Science Center just happens to be celebrating a half-century of serving DeKalb County students, and it’s marking the occasion by hosting programs related to Monday’s much-anticipated total solar eclipse.

Fernbank Science Center opened back in December of 1967, with a continuing mission to provide STEM-based educational opportunities to those in the DeKalb County School District and the community-at-large.  The center features a planetarium and The Dr. Ralph L. Buice, Jr. Observatory, which holds the Southeast’s largest telescope.  Of course, this makes Fernbank Science Center a natural place to view Monday’s total solar eclipse, a much-buzzed about event during which the sun will be blocked by the moon, making it look like the sun is “disappearing” for a few minutes.  Fernbank Science Center plans to set up solar-filtered telescopes so that the community may safely view the eclipse, and the planetarium will host programming including live-streamed images of the eclipse from across the country.

Good Day Atlanta’s Paul Milliken spent the morning at Fernbank Science Center, learning more about the center’s history and mission, and talking with experts about the excitement surrounding what many calling the “Great American Eclipse.