VALDOSTA — Even though Valdosta won’t get the whole show Monday when a solar eclipse takes place, Valdosta State University is making sure there’s plenty to see.

Those in a sweeping line from San Antonio, Texas, to Bangor, Maine, will see the entire sun vanish for a few minutes as the moon gets in the way. Further out from that “line of totality,” residents of much of the rest of the U.S. will see a partial eclipse, looking as though the moon is taking a big bite out of the sun.

In Valdosta, the partial eclipse will begin at 1:44 p.m., reach its peak with 69.4% of the sun covered up at 3:02 p.m., and will end at 4:18 p.m., a statement from the university said.

At VSU, a fourth floor observation deck at Nevins Hall will have several small telescopes with solar filters set up for viewing by the public.

“Eclipse glasses” will also be available. Even with part of the sun blocked, people should never look directly at the sun with the naked eye or else they risk vision damage. Special glasses are available — including at VSU — to watch the eclipse safely. Regular sunglasses are not safe to use for eclipse watching, a NASA website said.

The university will also be projecting the eclipse image so many people can safely observe the event at one time, the university’s statement said.

Valdosta City Schools will be closed Monday for the eclipse event, but Lowndes County schools will not, according to school Facebook postings. Lowndes schools will have no outdoor activities that day, and parents can check their children out early with the checkout considered excused, the Lowndes County Schools Facebook posting said.

This is not the university’s first brush with solar activities. On March 7, 1970, Valdosta was smack in the middle of the “track of totality” for a total solar eclipse, and hundreds of onlookers, a rock band and national TV network news crews descended on what was then Valdosta State College to watch the sun wink out.