Looking up: A partial solar eclipse for NYC today

Not the partial solar eclipse, but where a telescope will be on St. Mark's.

Photo by Kelley Ryan 

New Yorkers may get a glimpse of a partial eclipse this afternoon as the moon passes between Earth and the sun. 

According to NASA, the Aug. 12 event is a total solar eclipse, with the path of totality sweeping across Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, the Atlantic Ocean, Spain and a small corner of Portugal. 

NYC is — duh — well outside that path but will experience a partial eclipse (maybe 9%?), along with other parts of the northern United States. 

Closer to home, a telescope viewing station will be set up at 99 St. Mark's Place between the tall sunflowers and the East Village Books poetry window ... between Avenue A and First Avenue. (Info courtesy of Doanlad Davis, owner of East Village Books.)

Mark Maretsky, a math instructor at Fordham University and amateur astronomer, will be on hand with a 3-inch-diameter refractor telescope. It is expected to begin at 1:07 and officially end at 3:38 p.m. 

A reminder: Always use certified solar-viewing or eclipse glasses when looking at the sun. Regular sunglasses aren't sufficient. If you don't have eclipse glasses, use an indirect viewing method such as a pinhole projector. 

NASA will also livestream the eclipse starting at 1:15 p.m. ET. 

Meanwhile, a Total Eclipse of the Heart is always available via YouTube.