How to view Thursday's sundown solar eclipse

The moon will come between the earth and the sun Thursday evening, giving Minnesotans a rare glimpse of a partial solar eclipse at sunset. Here are a few tips on how to enjoy the experience, courtesy of NASA and National Geographic.

• Plan ahead. The eclipse begins at 4:23 p.m. for the Twin Cities metro and ends a little more than two hours later. Sunset is at 6:15 p.m.

• Don't stare directly at the sun. Even a tiny sliver of the sun can damage human eyes. Use safe filters like number 14 (or darker) welder's glasses or a telescope specifically designed for solar viewing.

• Make your own pinhole projector. For a safe, free way to see the partial eclipse, poke a small hole into a piece of cardstock or thick paper. With the sun at your back, hold the paper behind you to project the sun's image onto another surface.

• Make sure to watch the ground. In Minnesota, the moon will block about 60 percent of the sun at the peak of Thursday's eclipse. Overlapping leaves on trees will act as miniature pinholes, projecting lots of tiny crescent sun shapes onto the ground.

• Play with shadows. You can lock your hands together in various shapes, let light through the holes in your fingers and project images onto objects around you.

• Don't miss it. This will be the last solar eclipse visible in North America until August 2017.