Jim Sowell Talks About Watching Annular Eclipse

Jim Sowell, director of the Georgia Tech Observatory, will be keeping his eyes on the sky this weekend — and he says you should do the same.

An annular eclipse is set to take place Saturday, Oct. 14. It will cross North, Central, and South America with varying degrees of visibility.

"The entire country will see at least a partial eclipse," Sowell said. "Go out and experience it and see it for yourself."

In Atlanta, viewers will see a partial solar eclipse and notice the sky is darker than usual. In parts of the country where the eclipse will be seen in totality, it will look like a "ring of fire" around the moon. This rare event won’t happen again in the U.S. for more than 20 years.

The Georgia Tech Observatory will be open for viewing of the event on Oct. 14 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., with telescopes on the grounds of the Howey Physics Building. All viewing events are contingent on clear weather; monitor astronomy.gatech.edu for updates.

Video courtesy of The Weather Channel.