Eclipse watchers to meet at Calgary science centre for the big event

Millions of people across the country will be keeping their eyes on the skies on Monday and one of the busiest places in Calgary for eclipse watchers will be the TELUS Spark Science Centre.

Millions of people across the country will be keeping their eyes on the skies on Monday and one of the busiest places in Calgary for eclipse watchers will be the TELUS Spark Science Centre.

"This is obviously a rare celestial event, so we need to celebrate it," said Zack Anderson with TELUS Spark.

On Monday, beginning at 11:48 a.m. MT, the moon will begin to pass between Earth and the sun, partially blocking the star from sight.

At 12:43 p.m., 40 per cent of the sun will be blotted out in the sky above Calgary before the moon recedes once again, passing out of the path at 1:38 p.m.

The path of totality, where regions will be completely plunged into darkness after the moon completely covers the sun, will run across much of eastern U.S. as well as parts of Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

Ahead of the big event, Anderson says guests will be able to view a special eclipse-themed video in the Dome Theatre called Chasing Shadows.

"We also have the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada that will be on site with their gadgets to help look at the sun in a safe way and give us some really, really great information about it," he said.