Excitement grips Bay Area ahead of Monday's total solar eclipse

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- With just days to go until the Monday's solar eclipse, the excitement is building.

Monday's event will be a total solar eclipse - where the moon completely blocks out the sun if you're in the so-called path of totality.

For us here in Northern California, experts say we can expect to see an eclipse of about 35%.

"In our area, you might notice some subtle effects from the partial eclipse. You might notice a slight dimming of the light, slight cooling of the air," said Professor Aaron Romanowsky from San Jose State University's Department of Physics and Astronomy.

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Dozens of watch parties are happening all around the Bay Area Monday morning.

And many are even traveling to places like Texas where the eclipse will be most complete.

That includes Bryan Mendez from the UC Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science, who will be seeing his second total eclipse in person.

"I was utterly blown away. Never seen anything quite like that. No picture of a solar eclipse ever does justice to the full experience," Mendez said.

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Come Monday, you'll probably see a lot of people walking around with eclipse safety glasses.

These are critical if you're going to be viewing the eclipse to make sure your eyes are protected from the sun.

One tip, though, if you're going to buy them, make sure to get them from a reputable source to make sure your eyes stay protected.

One of the places you can pick up a pair is at San Francisco's Exploratorium, where they tell us they can hardly keep them on the shelves.

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"They have been incredibly selling well. I think they've been out top seller for the past three months. Everyone is trying to get some. And even in this last stretch, we have sold 500 in the five days of this month so far," said Marco Varas De Valdes.

While the last eclipse visible from the U.S. was back in 2017, Mendez says the next one won't happen until 2044.

So if you're interested, Monday is the time to check it out.

"If you are waiting for one to cross by your home, you'll be waiting a while."

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