I was ready for my first total solar eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017.
A nerdy 13-year-old obsessed with astronomy, I had ordered eclipse glasses well in advance and even made my own pinhole camera to view the eclipse as it was happening. My family and I made the three-hour trip from Charlotte, North Carolina, to the Blue Ridge Mountains for the occasion.
As the sun slipped behind the moon, darkness crept on the mountain landscape like dusk in the afternoon. The crickets and frogs started to sing, perhaps confused by the noticeable drop in temperature. Where the sun was moments before, I saw only a hole in the sky wreathed in white light. No wonder the ancient Incas offered sacrifices to the sun god after solar eclipses to appease his anger.
I may have traded my National Geographic Kids magazines for a copy of the complete works of William Shakespeare, but I’ll be breaking out the eclipse glasses again next week.
Professors should cancel classes or give excused absences for the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8.
The next total solar eclipse won’t happen in the contiguous United States until Aug. 23, 2044, when I’m almost 40 years old. And what if it’s cloudy that day?
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, and the moon’s shadow completely covers the sun. In the path of totality, viewers can see the corona – the sun’s outer atmosphere – which looks like a ring of bright white light and is usually obscured by the face of the sun. Total solar eclipses don’t happen in the same place twice for an average of more than 300 years at a time.
Students who stay in Hillsdale will see a partial solar eclipse of 98.6% on Monday afternoon, according to NASA, but totality is worth the drive.
It takes an hour and a half in normal traffic to drive from Hillsdale to the path of totality, which passes through Ohio from just north of Cincinnati to Toledo. With an expected increase in traffic due to the eclipse, it’s going to take even longer. Totality in Toledo will last about 90 seconds from 3:12-3:13 p.m. EST, according to Fox Weather.
Hillsdale professors should give students the afternoon off or excused absences so they can travel to observe the solar eclipse without missing lectures. At the very least, take a break from class to go outside and watch the partial eclipse.
It’ll be the most memorable Monday afternoon any of us ever have, no Incan sacrifice required.
