October 3, 2014
Contact: Nancy Lee Gomer, Marketing Coordinator, 636.949.7535 or cell 636.795.1137
St. Charles County, Missouri – Attention skywatchers! Please mark your calendars! There will be a public viewing of a partial solar eclipse on Thursday, Oct. 23 at the Astronomy Viewing Area in Broemmelsiek Park,1615 Schwede Rd., Wentzville, MO 63385 (off Highway DD/Winghaven exit south of I-64). Spectators of all ages are invited to join the St. Charles County Parks and Recreation Department and the Astronomical Society of Eastern Missouri (ASEM) for this spectacular astronomy event that will appear in the late afternoon sky. Guests should arrive by 4:30 p.m.
On Oct. 23, park guests are encouraged to visit the Astronomy Viewing Area from 4:40 - 6:15 p.m. to experience a partial solar eclipse that will be widely visible from the United States and Canada. Because you should never look at the sun directly, watching a solar eclipse requires some safety measures, so the parks department will have 500 pairs of special “eclipse shades” to hand out to guests before the start of the event. ASEM members will also provide safety-approved solar filters for telescopic viewing of the partial solar eclipse.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon gets between Earth and the sun. A solar eclipse can only take place at the phase of the new moon. This partial solar eclipse will have a maximum obscuration of the solar surface area of 39% (50% of diameter) at 5:48 p.m. CDT in the St. Louis area, while the Sun’s altitude is only 4 degrees above the horizon. The event will end at sundown.
For more information about solar and lunar eclipses, please visit the Astronomical Society of Eastern Missouri at www.asemonline.org.
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