Several eclipse-viewing venues planned in state

People across the United States will stop what they are doing Monday morning and gawk skyward to see the moon momentarily blot out the sun.

It is the first U.S. coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in 99 years. Scientists predict that the eclipse will be the most watched event in U.S. history -- overshadowing even Super Bowls and the 1980 "Who Shot J.R." episode of Dallas.

Arkansas won't experience a total solar eclipse, but it will see a pretty good partial one, and there will be several venues available for Arkansans who don't want to merely stand outside and crane their necks to see it.

The Arkansas Museum of Discovery at 500 President Clinton Ave. in Little Rock will hold an "eclipnic" at 11 a.m. Visitors can carry in their lunches or buy pizza inside the museum for the picnic-style gathering where they can watch the eclipse. In Little Rock, 89 percent of the sun will be obscured at the eclipse's peak. Admission for the picnic is $5 and covers the cost of a pair of eclipse-viewing safety glasses.

In Hot Springs, where 87 percent the sun will be obscured for 2 minutes and 40 seconds at the eclipse's peak, the Mid-America Science Museum at 500 Mid America Blvd., will hold a watch party from noon until 2 p.m.

The museum will offer complimentary eclipse glasses while they are available. Workers also will assist guests in making pinhole viewfinders in the Alliance Rubber Company Tinkering Studio to safely watch the eclipse.

After the actual eclipse, shows about eclipses and astronomy will be held in the Oaklawn Foundation Digital Dome Theater at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Monday, Director of Education Doug Herbert said.

The state's two national forests also will provide visitors with unobstructed views of the eclipse.

At the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest, the Horsehead Recreational Area in the Pleasant Hill Ranger District near Clarksville and the Rotary Ann Roadside Rest Area on Arkansas 7, located 7 miles south of Jasper, offer panoramic views.

Rich Mountain, the second-highest mountain in Arkansas at 2,681 feet, and the Hickory Nut Mountain Vista on the Caddo-Womble Ranger District in the Ouachita National Forest also will offer unobstructed views of the eclipse.

Petit Jean State Park officials will set up two telescopes at the park near Morrilton from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Arkansas Sky Observatory astronomer Clay Sherrod will answer questions about the eclipse and help make pinhole cameras to safely see it.

The Arkansas/Oklahoma Astronomical Society will hold its eclipse watch party at the Lake Fort Smith Visitor Center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. At that location, 87.9 percent of the sun will be obscured by the moon at the eclipse's peak.

In Jonesboro, where 95.4 percent of the sun will be covered by the moon, the Northeast Arkansas Trail Organization will host a mountain bike ride from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Craighead Forest Park in Jonesboro.

The University of Central Arkansas Griffin Planetarium will hold a watch event from 11:47 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Visitors will be allowed to observe the eclipse through the university's telescope.

Arkansas State University's Student Activities Board and Student Government Association will hand out free eclipse-viewing glasses to students on their first day of school on the Jonesboro campus.

State Desk on 08/20/2017

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