Sky watchers will be treated to the first solar eclipse in the United States in 18 years on Sunday, May 20, and Petrified Forest National Park is hosting a viewing party to herald the event. Petrified Forest is in the pathway of the eclipse, which begins over the Pacific Ocean. The eclipse shadow will travel 1,000 miles per hour, racing south and east over California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and West Texas, according to the National Park Service. The event will be held at Kachina Point in Petrified Forest beginning at 5:27 p.m. on Sunday, with first contact between the sun’s shadow and the moon. The event will end when the park closes at 7:30 p.m. Special glasses and pinhole boxes will be available for safe viewing. The event is free, but park entrance fees will be charged. For more information, call 524-6228.