Arkansas PBS, Arkansas Department of Education partner to offer statewide eclipse coverage event
ArkansasIDEAS, a partnership between Arkansas PBS and the Arkansas Department of Education’s Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), will present: “TOTALITY: Live Eclipse Event Across Arkansas” Monday, April 8, beginning at 1 p.m. on Arkansas PBS and at myarpbs.org/eclipse. This live event will be the only one of its kind to follow the total solar eclipse across Arkansas, beginning with community gatherings and continuing through the full 12-minute arc across the state.
To encourage and support learning, the Arkansas Department of Education’s Division of Elementary and Secondary Education is pleased to share helpful information and resources, including a link to an interactive solar eclipse map. Be sure to visit DESE’s eclipse page often, as new events and opportunities are added each week.
According to NASA, a total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the sun. As the Great North American Eclipse of 2024 – a monumental celestial event more than 100 years in the making – spans a complete arc across Arkansas, viewers worldwide will be able to watch via livestream.
Communities, schools and families, both inside and outside the path of totality will have an exclusive front row seat for this rare occasion. Production teams positioned in De Queen, Russellville, Jonesboro and on Petit Jean Mountain will provide insights from esteemed national and local physics and astronomy experts, as well as reactions from community members and visitors to the state. Former KATV anchor Chris Kane will host the hourlong event.
Featured guests during the live event will include: Robert Loper, Ph.D., research astrophysicist, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama; David Weigel, planetarium director, U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama and Russellville Mayor Fred Teague.
Totality will begin in Southwest Arkansas, and the network’s first correspondent will be stationed in De Queen, the community that will be in darkness longer than any other location across the state, at 4 minutes and 17 seconds. Totality in De Queen should begin around 1:46 p.m.
Next, the eclipse will reach the production team in Russellville at approximately 1:50 p.m.
The third correspondent will be atop Petit Jean Mountain at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute – for one of the highest views of the event where (due to its proximity to Russellville) totality is expected to begin at approximately 1:50 p.m., as well.
Finally, totality will reach Nettleton, Arkansas, at around 1:56 p.m. before passing out of the state completely.
To help build excitement for this historic event,
ArkansasIDEAS has created “TOTALITY: The Great Arkansas Eclipse,” a short documentary weaving together the unique stories of Arkansas astronomers, highlighting the science behind eclipses and sharing the importance of eclipse safety. The documentary will feature interviews with scientists from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and the Arkansas Tech University Observatory, as well as high school astronomer Mekenzie Racy, a junior from Nettleton, Arkansas. The documentary also includes a segment on creating a pinhole viewer out of a cereal box. “TOTALITY: The Great Arkansas Eclipse,” will premiere Thursday, March 28, at 7 p.m.; encore Monday, April 8, at 12:30 and 2 p.m.; and will be available on demand at myarpbs.org/eclipse and in the PBS App.
Additional resources, including the pinhole viewer how-to video, are available at myarpbs.org/eclipse.
A full-length professional development course combining the two events, as well as new footage from local events throughout the state, will be released by ArkansasIDEAS in summer 2024 and will be aligned with relevant Arkansas K12 science and Arkansas history standards.
“TOTALITY: The Great Arkansas Eclipse” is produced by ArkansasIDEAS, a partnership between Arkansas PBS and the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.