Meet Up To View The Solar Eclipse At Bell Works In Holmdel

HOLMDEL, NJ — We're all excited to glimpse Monday's solar eclipse, and you might find just the right spot to do so at Bell Works - fitting for this one-time center of Bell Labs scientific research.

Bell Works is a successful "metroburb" now, with various tech companies and other businesses, retail stores and restaurants calling it home.

But its scientific heritage is never far from anyone's mind.

For more than a year now, the work decades ago by scientists at Bell Labs' Horn antenna on Crawford Hill has been highlighted in the Township Committee's acquisition of the National Landmark antenna and surrounding property.

The scientists' Nobel Prize-winning work was used to confirm the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe. One of the researchers, Robert Wilson, lives in Holmdel and the Crawford Hill site will be officially named in his honor as a park later this month.

And at Bell Works we can all engage in a bit of cosmological observation Monday - safely, with the proper eyewear.

The viewing is April 8 at 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Bell Works says on its website. It is located at 101 Crawfords Corner Road, Holmdel 07733.

In our area, the moon will cover about 88.9 percent of the sun at the peak of the eclipse, according to a NASA map that is searchable by ZIP code.

Here are the details for when to see the eclipse, according to NASA:

• Partial eclipse begins: 2:09 p.m.
• Totality begins: 2:50 p.m.
• Maximum: 3:24 p.m.
• Totality ends: 3:58 p.m.
• Partial ends: 4:35 p.m.

The eclipse will last 2 hours and 26 minutes from beginning to end in the area, and the weather forecast has so far calls for clouds and maybe rain, according to the NASA map. Read more about the eclipse path and safe viewing here.

Bell Works will be streaming the solar eclipse on the TVs in the Main Atrium, and have viewing on the rooftop deck, with proper eye protection, it says.

You can go to the front desk to secure your pair of solar eclipse glasses to get the best view of this rare celestial event and then head to the roof deck. Limited glasses will be available, so if you have your own pair, please bring them, Bell Works advises.

Hazlet amateur astronomer Joseph Cascella, who gave a talk at the Hazlet Library recently on the eclipse, suggests that you check in on the eclipse every 10 minutes or so, and remember to wear proper eye protection for the event - or view it projected on white paper.

In our area we won't see the totality of the eclipse, but Cascella said it still should produce the excitement of seeing daylight take on a yellowish hue and other changes, such as flowers closing during the temporary dusk. If the weather cooperates, watch from the sunny side of your house or office, he said.

There will also be a Total Solar Eclipse Watch Party April 8 at Sandy Hook in Parking Lot E from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., according to information from the Hazlet Library. It is sponsored by S.T.A.R. of Red Bank (an astronomy club) and the National Park Service. Telescopes, viewing glasses, and Junior Ranger materials will be provided and no reservation is needed, organizers say.