NASA Solar System Ambassador John Martinez will give a presentation titled “Everything You Need to Know About the April 8th Solar Eclipse,” at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, March 16, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

This event is free of charge and is open to the public. There is no registration.

“The eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024, will be a total solar eclipse,” Martinez says. “It will be the last total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States until 2044. A total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and earth, completely blocking the face of the sun. People viewing the eclipse from locations where the moon’s shadow completely covers the Sun – known as the path of totality – will experience a total solar eclipse”

The sky will become dark, as if it were dawn or dusk.

“Weather permitting, people along the path of totality will see the sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, which is usually obscured by the bright face of the sun,” he says. “Those viewing the eclipse from outside the path of totality may observe a partial eclipse, where the moon covers most but not all of the sun.”

Eclipse glasses are required for the entire duration of the eclipse when viewing from outside the path of totality.

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.