Exploratorium shares details on how to witness upcoming total solar eclipse

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- On April 8, a total solar eclipse will be visible along a thin arc from Mexico to Texas to Maine.

Total solar eclipses last anywhere from 10 seconds to about seven and a half minutes. The Exploratorium wants you to be in a prime location to experience the eclipse of a lifetime.

"An eclipse happens when the moon passes between the earth and the sun," explained Julie Yu, PhD and Principal Scientist at the Exploratorium. "You need to be in that 115-mile shadow... SF is not fully in that path, that's why we'll experience a partial eclipse."

The Exploratorium invites all to San Francisco's Pier 15 to watch, celebrate, and learn. If you can't attend, there will be a lifestream to document the action.

Since 1998, the Exploratorium and NASA have worked together to send expeditions to sites around the world to broadcast images of the eclipses.

"We make the eclipse available to the world...download the app or other video resources for education," shared Sam Sharkland, the Exploratorium's Senior Program Developer.

Go here to learn more about the eclipse and how to witness it.