Partial Solar Eclipse to Darken North American Skies Today (WATCH)

Oct 23, 2014 04:30 PM EDT | Matt Mercuro

A partial solar eclipse is set to darken North American skies on Thursday afternoon, and you can watch the event here live if clouds are covering your view.

The online Slooh Community Observatory will air a special three-hour webcast for the partial solar eclipse today starting at 5 p.m. The show will feature live views from Arizona's Prescott Solar Observatory and other telescopes from around the world.

Click here to watch the Slooh stream at 5:00.

Other webcast feeds are expected by the University of Arizona's SkyCenter at Mount Lemmon and the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California.

Those in virtually all of North America should be able to see the partial solar eclipse, weather permitting. A number of locations in the U.S. and Canada will see about half of the sun's disk obscured by the moon; "greatest eclipse" occurs over the Canadian Arctic, where 80 percent of the sun will be blocked.

Parts of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States will miss out, however, since the sun will set there before the eclipse gets underway.

A solar eclipse is caused by the new moon passing between the Earth and the sun, according to EarthSky. In the case of a partial solar eclipse, the moon isn't quite close enough to the Earth to make a full eclipse and only appears to take a chunk out of the sun.

A partial solar eclipse is different from any other solar eclipse, since the moon positions itself in a way to project a ring of sunlight to viewers on Earth.

A viewer's position on Earth affects the appearance of the eclipse, according to Space.com. This explains why the Oct. 23 partial eclipse is only visible to those in North America.

Observations can be made with the naked eye, telescopes, or binoculars of any size. Instruments and eyes should be protected by special filters however from the intense light and heat of the focused solar rays.

"Even if the partially eclipsed sun is setting at your location, and appears red or orange and not too bright, it would be wise to glance only briefly at it," Slooh astronomer Bob Berman said in a statement, according to Space.com. "Moreover, telephoto lenses amplify the brightness, and it would not be safe to look at the sun through your camera lens even if the sun is setting. Eyesight is precious, and if there's any doubt, don't do it."

Click here for local circumstances and eclipse times for the U.S.

Information for a number of cities in Canada and Mexico can be found here.

The next total solar eclipse visible from the U.S. will take place in Aug. 21, 2017. At least 48 states will be able to see the first total eclipse of the sun in the U.S. in nearly four decades.

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