Sandy Hook Solar Eclipse Watch Party Announced For April 8

There's a total eclipse coming our way and even though the Jersey Shore is not in the path of totality that doesn't mean that it won't be cool.  Sure you could just lean out your office window, but you could also check out the official solar eclipse watch party at Sandy Hook, part of the Gateway National Recreation Area.

The eclipse will happen this Monday, April 8th, in the middle of the afternoon.  Gateway is having a special "solar eclipse watch party" event which is free and open to the public.  National Park Service staff will be on hand to assist and describe what is going on.  IMPORTANT TO NOTE:  Do Not Look Directly At The Sun With The Naked Eye During An Eclipse Of Any Kind.

Because we've got so many things running through our heads at any given time, just a reminder on what the heck this is.  A solar eclipse is when the moon passes directly between the sun and earth.  If your location on earth is in the shadow that the moon creates on the earth, you will see the eclipse.  Some people in the shadow get a total eclipse, some people get a partial eclipse.  According to NASA, people who see a partial eclipse will see a crescent shape in the sun.  A total eclipse of the sun will look like a complete ball of darkness (that's the moon) travelling through the sun.

For the Jersey shore, we are expecting to see a partial solar eclipse on Monday, April 8th.  If you're not lucky enough to be reading this in WRAT's terrestrial FM signal area, you can click here to find out if you're anywhere near a total or partial eclipse during this eclipse using that nifty zip code eclipse finder.  We love a good reason to have a good time, so a solar eclipse watch party is right up our alley.

Again, a reminder to NOT LOOK AT THE SUN during the eclipse.  Unless you really want eye damage.  Eye protection is necessary.  That's where this Gateway National Recreation Area solar eclipse watch party comes in.  National Park Rangers will be on hand with special glasses to wear to protect your eyes.    The will also have Junior Ranger Eclipse Explorer books and badges for the young people who attend so if your kid is on Spring break on April 8th, this could be a cool thing to check out.

The meet up time is officially 2pm, but the eclipse starts at 2:08pm so you may want to be there earlier.  Meet up place is Parking Lot E.  Because it's before Memorial Day weekend, parking is free.

Enjoy more information about the local event here.

Again, let's be clear:  You'll mess your eyes up if you look directly at a solar eclipse unless you have some kind of eye protection.  It doesn't matter if you're at a solar eclipse watch party or not.  The park rangers will have eye protection for you for free if you go to their Solar Eclipse Watch Party.  However, if you're not game for that, here are a few options that will supposedly do the job if you want to have your own solar eclipse watch party.

And if you'd like to photograph the eclipse, here are some tips from NASA.  We have tons of great places on the Jersey shore to watch a sunset, but this seems like a great opportunity to watch a solar eclipse while visiting the only National Park in the entire state.  OK, technically a "recreation area" but still, Sandy Hook is pretty cool.

It's not a secret.  The tippy top of the Jersey Shore is a pretty spectacular place.  There's so much to do at Sandy Hook.

Fishing, surfing, running, biking, sail boarding, exploring history, wild life watching and even going "full monte" at the only beach north of Florida where you can fully naked!

Today, we're saluting this great treasure of the Jersey shore that puts a magnificent end to the Bay Shore beach areas along the Raritan and Sandy Hook Bays and starts the 130+ mile north to south stretch of Atlantic coast down to Cape May.  Sandy Hook, we love it!

We were fortunate to have a lot of our friends on social media contribute images to our collection.  Others are contributed by the National Park Service!  More pictures will be added as we receive them and process them.

There's lots of places on Sandy Hook where the locals know the surf kicks in. New Jersey has lost the reputation of being "lame" for surfing thanks to our fall and winter seasons.

Interesting pic from our Facebook friend Dana because you can get an amazing sunrise and an amazing sunset - both over the water - at Sandy Hook.