What to Know
- The observatory announced the April 8 event is CANCELED due to “inclement weather” over Easter Weekend (updated April 1)
- Mount Wilson Observatory, located on Mount Wilson above Pasadena, will host a free public event
- A live stream will be available; eclipse safety glasses are necessary and some will be available for purchase; the café will be closed but visitors are welcome to arrive with picnics
We may not be in the coming solar eclipse's "path of totality" here in Southern California, but we can, wait for it, totally make a path to a world-famous place to view the astronomically awesome phenomenon.
No more iffy quips or so-so gags: We're talking about the sun here, and the moon passing in front of it, and the amazingness of this rare moment.
Solar eclipses don't come around every day, but one will grace us with its epic power on April 8.
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Again: Los Angeles is not the path of totality, which means it will not be a total eclipse when viewed from our region. But that fact isn't stopping Mount Wilson Observatory, that marvelous mountaintop icon, from honoring the eclipse-y occasion.
Visitors are invited to view a live stream in the observatory's auditorium on April 8, with the peak eclipse — again, it will be a partial eclipse 'round these parts — occurring at 11:12 in the morning.
Eye safety is essential during a solar eclipse, and the observatory will have a limited number of solar glasses — "specialized eye protection" — available for purchase. Safely viewing the eclipse is everything, so have those all-important safety glasses if you choose to gaze upwards.
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The Cosmic Cafe, that warm-weather gem, will be closed, so you can't buy snacks or beverages while on the observatory campus. But here's something nice: You are welcome to show up with a picnic if you like.
You may want to pack nibbles when you ponder how the observatory poetically paints how the solar eclipse will appear: "(I)t will look like someone took a bite out of the sun with about two-thirds still visible" when the event hits peak eclipse-a-tude.
We humans cannot take a bite out of the sun and, if the unusual opportunity were offered to us, we would politely but strongly decline. So pack a picnic of Earth-originating snacks, we gladly shall, for this remarkable, picnic-worthy occasion.
"It will be the last total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States until 2044," shares the observatory. That fact alone should prompt many eclipse enthusiasts to make their way to the iconic astronomical aerie, the one that's held cosmic court high above Pasadena for well over a sky-watching century.
