Get ready for the sky to go dark in the middle of the day next Monday.

While the total solar eclipse won’t have the same effect here as it will in north Georgia, we will get much of the show as the moon passes in front of the sun. 

Thomas County and City of Thomasville schools are turning the day and the occurrence into a lesson for the students. County schools will remain in session an additional 30 minutes on August 21 and the system purchased 7,000 solar eclipse glasses. City schools are providing glasses for its students in higher elementary grades and middle schoolers. Younger kids and Scholars Academy students will watch NASA’s livestream and there will be a lesson component for Thomasville High students. 

Some school systems in the state are shutting down completely for the day. Other school systems are pushing back the end of the school day.

The Thomas County Public Library is getting in on the action too, with a Skype hookup this Friday with NASA’s Richard Johanboeke. The library will be giving out free eclipse glasses too as long as supplies last.

The eclipse will cut a swath through the middle of the country, starting on the Oregon coast and ending at Charleston, S.C. If you’re stuck inside and can’t get out to see day turn to night and back to day, NASA TV will have penumbra to penumbra coverage of the event. 

NASA’s website has plenty of tips and information on the big blackout — right down to planning your eclipse party.

The last total solar eclipse viewable in the contiguous U.S. was Feb. 26,1979, but that was for only the most northwestern of the states. There will be another solar eclipse Oct. 14, 2023, viewable from northern California to Florida, and there will be another total solar eclipse April 8, 2024, covering a swath from Texas to Maine.

The alignment of celestial bodies is also known as a syzygy. There are more facts — and debunking of misconceptions — on NASA’s website dedicated to the eclipse, eclipse2017.nasa.gov, including how to safely watch the eclipse. 

Now, if the weather will cooperate, maybe we’ll get a fascinating event and a good science lesson out it.