SWEETWATER COUNTY — While the upcoming Annular Solar Eclipse won’t have total coverage in Wyoming, residents of Sweetwater County will see about 80% coverage of the sun during the event.
Though, we don’t recommend actually looking at the sun unless you’re wearing protective eyewear.
The partial eclipse begins at 9:09 a.m., and concludes at 12:05 p.m. The maximum eclipse is expected to be at 10:30 a.m. While portions of the western United States will have the chance to view the full annular “ring of fire” eclipse, residents in Sweetwater County won’t see the complete eclipse. Instead, the sun will appear as a crescent as the moon’s orbit takes it in front of the sun.
Residents without sun-viewing glasses or a solar filter attached to a camera, telescope or binoculars can make a pinhole projector using white card stock, aluminum foil, tape, and a pin, paper clip, or pencil. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has instructions on how to build a pinhole camera available on its website. Normal sunglasses will not be able to completely shield eyes from the intense rays of sunlight still visible.
The skies are expected to be partially cloudy according to Joshua Rowe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Riverton. Those clouds are expected to be thin enough to allow visibility of the eclipse. Rowe said it will still be chilly, but temperatures will warm to the upper 40s for the western part of the county. A breeze is expected as well, between 5 and 15 MPH from the southwest. Rainfall is not expected.
“It should be dry, no precipitation tomorrow,” Rowe said.
Should residents miss out on the eclipse, another full annular eclipse will cross the U.S. from Texas to Maine April 8, 2024. Wyoming residents are able to view the partial eclipse at that time. After that, the next eclipse that will be viewable from the contiguous United States won’t happen until 2044.
