Solar Eclipse Moves Through Georgia

Jasper, GA – Today, August 21, North Georgia will have prime visibility of a national solar eclipse that will begin around 1:05 P.M.

Pickens county will experience 97% of coverage allowing citizens to have an exceptional view of the event. At 2:36 P.M., the event will be at its peak before ending between 3:30 and 4:00 P.M.

With the Georgia Emergency Management Agency expecting over 100,000 visitors to travel to North Georgia for the event, the local school board wants to ensure the safety of all students, teachers, and parents.

Superintendent Dr. Carlton Wilson made the decision to make today a holiday due to the event occurring the same time school would be dismissing.

Public Information Officier Kris Stancil spoke on how the Sheriff’s Office is preparing for the event,

We have brought in additional staff to assist in the expected heavy traffic areas like the look out on Highway 515 and the one on Burnt Mountain Road.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sent out the following saftey precautions:

• Always inspect your solar filter before use; if scratched or damaged, discard it. Read and follow any instructions printed on or packaged with the filter.
• Always supervise children using solar filters.
• Stand still and cover your eyes with your eclipse glasses or solar viewer before looking up at the bright sun. After looking at the sun, turn away and remove your filter — do not remove it while looking at the sun.
• Do not look at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed sun through an unfiltered camera, telescope, binoculars, or other optical device.
• Similarly, do not look at the sun through a camera, a telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device while using your eclipse glasses or hand-held solar viewer — the concentrated solar rays will damage the filter and enter your eye(s), causing serious injury.
• Seek expert advice from an astronomer before using a solar filter with a camera, a telescope, binoculars, or any other optical device. Note that solar filters must be attached to the front of any telescope, binoculars, camera lens, or other optics.
• If you are within the path of totality, remove your solar filter only when the moon completely covers the sun’s bright face and it suddenly gets quite dark. Experience totality, then, as soon as the bright sun begins to reappear, replace your solar viewer to look at the remaining partial phases.
• Outside the path of totality, you must always use a safe solar filter to view the sun directly.
• If you normally wear eyeglasses, keep them on. Put your eclipse glasses on over them, or hold your handheld viewer in front of them.

Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com