Watching Monday’s solar eclipse? St. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools offers safety guide and helpful details for viewing the event:Our St. John the Baptist Parish Public School students will participate in an eclipse viewing between noon and 2:00 PM, and the District will provide up to 1,000 pairs of solar eclipse glasses to the school community. Ahead of a rare total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024, the District is prepared to help the school community view the event.Nearly 32 million Americans live in areas from Texas to Maine that will experience a total eclipse between or around 2:30 PM and 3:30 PM ET on Monday when the moon passes in front of and completely obscures the sun.Reserve, LA — like 99% percent of the continental U.S. — will experience a partial solar eclipse. The partial eclipse will last over two hours. In the path of totality, the total eclipse will only last up to 4 minutes. The last time U.S. residents saw a total solar eclipse was 2017. The next one we’ll see will be in 2044.That’s due to the moon’s phases and the tilt in its orbit. Total eclipses only occur during a new moon, and because the moon’s orbit is tilted five degrees to Earth’s orbit around the sun, the moon’s shadow misses us most of the time. Looking directly at an eclipse without glasses can damage your eyes. If you don’t have glasses, there are other ways to observe. The best general resources for the eclipse are offered by NASA and the American Astronomical Society (AAS). The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) AstroShop offers educational eclipse materials to teachers and the public.Additional resources:Alvarez J. Hertzock III, MPA JDDirector of Risk Management & Strategic InitiativesSt. John the Baptist Parish Public Schools
