Tuesday, July 2 is the most anticipated day of the year. Thousands of people will travel to Villa de Merlo in San Luis, to witness the most spectacular natural event we can see: a total solar eclipse. 

Before telling you about the activities that we are going to carry out from Fundación Planetario de Merlo, let’s see what will happen that afternoon. 

In the following image, we can see a simulation with Stellarium of what the sky will look like at 5:43 pm: dark, at night, but of course, a picture is worth a thousand words but an experience is worth more than a thousand images. 

For more than two minutes we will observe the stars, and Mars and Mercury will be very close to the Sun. The temperature will slightly drop, the wind will sweep, and the birds and animals will be disoriented. After these two minutes, sunlight will slowly come, and everything will go back to normal. Still, everything will take place during the sunset, which promises a play of lights on the horizon only seen before in dreams.

 How does the eclipse occur? 

The Moon orbits the planet Earth in about 28 days and does so independently of the Earth´s translation around the Sun. That is why, throughout a night with Moon we can see a small but noticeable movement of the Moon with respect to the stars. In this way, day by day and night after night, the Moon goes through different areas of the sky. Thus, we say «today the Moon is in Gemini and tomorrow is in Cancer».

 During this trajectory , our natural satellite can be found with the Sun, wich is 400 times farther behind the Moon, which causes us to see it eclipsed by the lunar disk. At 4:30 p.m. we will observe the first contact and the Sun will begin to be eclipsed by the lunar disc, at 5:43 p.m. it will be the mximun of the eclipse, the moment where the day becomes night. Finally at 5:55 p.m. we will observe the Sun «touching» the Earth´s horizon. 

It should be noted that the sites from which the activities will be carried out are located at the foot of the Comechingones Sierras, and have an unbeateble cut on the west, where the astronomical event will take place. 

There are a thousand other things we can know about a solar eclipse, such as its periodicity, its place in Hellenistic history, its relationship with terrestrial tides or the indelible experience of each one of the spectators who appreciate it; that is why we invite you to enjoy our activities. 

It will be an unprecedented opportunity for thoe who love photography, astronomical observation or simple contemplation, we will have the assistance of amateur astronomy groups, guest scientific disseminators, film crews, students and graduates of the Faculty of Astronomical and Geophysical Sciences of the National University of La Plata. 

Tuesday July 2, 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., two parallel, similar and open activities begin: one at our facilities in Circuito Damiana Vega 1000, Cerro de Oro neighborhood, Villa de Merlo and another on the terraces of the Los Mandarinos Cultural Center, in Av. Los Mandarinos 2000, Carpintería. 

This new space in Carpinteria we will use since we expect hundreds of attendees, and to be able to provide an extra and more extensive observation site is that we will carry out the most convincing activity on this site. 

Illustrative map of the locations of the observation sites. To arrive simply from your smartphone, go to Google Maps application and look for «Centro Cultural Los Mandarinos, Carpintería» or «Fundación Planetario de Merlo»

Both activities are similar, we will observe the eclipse with telescope equipped with solar filters, we will distribute solar lenses with the inputs, and will be able to enjoy lectures of scientific outrech by professional with academic training in Astronomy and Geophysics. 

Only those who book previouly, for free, can contact us by email at info@planetariodemerlo.org, through Instagram, Facebook, or the telesphones at the bottom of the page. The capacity is limited in both places.

Tickets: 
Adults AR$400, children from 8 to 15 years old AR$300, younger than eight AR$170.

They all include absorption lenses to observe the Sun.

WE WILL BE WAITING FOR YOU!