A solar eclipse happens when the Moon moves between the sun and Earth, casting a shadow on Earth and fully or partially blocking the Sun’s light in some areas. In WNC, the sun will appear to have a dark shadow on parts of its surface as the area experiences a partial solar eclipse. People in parts of Canada, Greenland and northern Russia will experience an annular eclipse, in which the moon looks like a dark disc on top of the sun’s larger, bright disk, creating what looks like a ring of fire around the moon.

Enrique Gomez, associate professor of physics and astronomy at Western Carolina University, urges viewers to use only certified, recently purchased eclipse glasses. Equipment purchased for the 2017 solar eclipse is no longer safe to use, because these materials have a lifetime of only two years. 

The safest way to experience this eclipse would be to make a pinhole projector, Gomez said. To make one, take a piece of cardboard or aluminum foil, poke a small hole, and look at the projection from this hole on another flat surface to see a sun have a “missing part,” which is the disc of the moon partially covering it. 

The sun will rise partially eclipsed by the moon at 6:15 a.m. and this partial phase will end at 6:27 a.m. in Western North Carolina.