Middle and high school students will make nine telescopes at workshops on February 8th and 9th in one of Simpson County’s events leading up to the total solar eclipse later this year.
The telescopes will go to each of the schools in the district, to the Boys and Girls Club, and to the housing authority senior center.
Hopkinsville will be the center of eclipse viewing in Kentucky on August 21st, when the darkness caused by the moon passing between the sun and the earth will last two-minutes-and-40-seconds.
Joanna Drake is a spokeswoman for the Simpson County Tourism Commission. She says an eclipse viewing party planned for the Franklin Drive-In theater takes advantage of the nearly full peak viewing time.
“The total solar eclipse in Franklin will be at 1:26 p.m.," Drake said. "The totality duration will last 2 minutes and 34 seconds at the drive-in location and we are only about six seconds shy of Hopkinsville at that location.”
Drake says the Franklin Drive-In can accommodate 500 cars. If there’s an overflow crowd, the event can expand to an adjoining field.
