The Best Eclipse Viewing Parties In the Hudson Valley

Where to get the best seats for The Great American Eclipse.

“The Great American Eclipse” will be here on Monday. If you haven’t already booked a hotel in its direct path, you aren’t out of luck until 2024. Most of New York will still be able to witness the eclipse at about 70% effacement, so you’ve still got time to sign up with these local viewing events.
 

 

Rockland/Southern Orange – New City Library – 1 p.m.

Starting at 1 p.m., the library will pass out eclipse glasses to children (and adults, supplies permitting) with New City and West Nyack library cards. For those without, or who prefer air conditioning, the library’s meeting room will also host NASA’s livestream.
 

Dutchess/Northern Orange – Vanderbilt Mansion – 1:30-3 p.m.

For just $1 you can buy a pair of viewing glasses in the gift shop and watch the eclipse right on the lawn. For $20 you can pre-order along with an info packet, family activity sheet, and a commemorative t-shirt.
 

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Ulster – SUNY New Paltz – 1-4 p.m.

Dr. Raj Pandya of the SUNY New Paltz Physics and Astronomy Department, with members of the Mid-Hudson Astronomical Association will host a public viewing on the campus’ Excelsior Concourse. Telescopes with solar filters will be set up, and eclipse glasses will be made available as well.
 

Southern Westchester – Hudson River Museum – 12:30-3 p.m.

The Hudson River Museum in Yonkers boasts an impressive collection, as well as its own planetarium. Activities include modeling the Earth-moon system, making pinhole projectors, and a live stream of the eclipse’s path of totality from Oregon, beginning at 1 p.m. Guests can also view the partial eclipse from the courtyard with their own glasses or the planetarium’s specially filtered telescope.
 

Mid-Westchester – Harrison Public Library 1-4 p.m.

“The best astronomy club this side of the Oort Cloud” will host a special gathering in the Richard E. Halperin Memorial Library Building, led by Westchester Amateur Astronomers (WAA) Assistant President Claudia Parrington.
 

Mid-Westchester – Pace University 1:30-3 p.m.

Pace University will also be holding an eclipse viewing party at their Pleasantville campus, hosted by new University President Marvin Krislov and featuring Q&A with Adjunct Professor of Computer Science and Astronomy Matt Ganis. Refreshments will be served on Alumni Hall Quad, and eclipse glasses as well as a solar filtered telescope will be made available.
 

Northern Westchester/Putnam – Desmond-Fish Library

The Desmond-Fish Library in Garrison will be live-streaming NASA Television’s “Eclipse Across America: Through the Eyes of NASA” all day, including live coverage of the eclipse and events surrounding it on its path across the country. During the local partial eclipse, twenty pairs of approved eyewear will be available to share.
 

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Capitol Region – Dudley Observatory

Now located at the Museum of Innovation and Science in Schenectady, the Dudley Observatory will feature an indoor live stream and filtered telescopes outdoors. Glasses will be available for $2 in the gift shop. Activities are free with purchase of miSci admittance.
 

If none of that feels as convenient as relaxing at home, there’s always the option of acquiring telescope filters, specially made “sunoculars,” or relatively cheap “eclipse glasses.” The Great American Eclipse website has plenty for sale, all tested and verified for safety. (Amazon recently suspended sales and issued refunds for glasses that could not show documented safety testing.) There’s also the tried and true method of building your own pinhole projector out of an old cereal box:

 

The eclipse will begin around 1:23 p.m. local time, reaching totality for about two to two-and-a-half minutes around 2:45 p.m., before waning until 4 p.m. Never directly view an eclipse without protective eyewear.

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