FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — This weekend, Sam’s Club in Fayetteville visitors were in for a special treat.
Unistellar camped out at the front of Sam’s Club on Saturday, Oct. 14 for an eclipse watch party. The event caught the attention of Sam’s Club shoppers and visitors who came to watch the annular eclipse that was visible across parts of the United States.
Though it was difficult to see with cloudy skies in Fayetteville, visitors say they still had a good time.
“It's a little unfortunate, but it's still cool nonetheless. I mean, we've got a live view behind us, which is still nice to see," said visitor Michael Kariker.
The annular eclipse is also called the mini-moon eclipse. This means the moon was closer to the Earth, so it showed a small bit of the sun known as the "Ring of Fire."
“This eclipse, shadows, racing thousands of miles an hour across the country. So it ended in Oregon, like 6,500 miles an hour, it slows down as it's getting more and more towards the peak of annularity," said Scott Roberts, president and founder of Explore Scientific.
"You can burn out your vision is what you can do. But when you actually look at the eclipse, you need solar protection, you have to have it, please don't do it. It is really unsafe, it's bad for your eyes. And we would like for you to keep your patience the best we can," adds Tyler Bowman, an Explore Scientific employee.
The eclipse itself lasted about four minutes while it took about two hours for the moon to get into full position.
While other areas of the country like Oregon and Texas got 100% coverage, Arkansas had a different view.
Roberts adds, “From Arkansas, well, if it burns off, you're going to see a partial eclipse, we're getting about 70% Eclipse. It's interesting to see the sun kind of covered up.”
If you missed this sighting, mark your calendars for the next total eclipse where Arkansas is in the path of totality on April 8, 2024.
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