EAST LANSING, Mich. – On April 8, a solar eclipse will put a large part of North America into darkness starting just before 2 p.m. It will be the last solar eclipse visible in the Contiguous United States until 2044.
Shannon Schmoll, the director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University, joined Christy McDonald to speak about the excitement, what makes this eclipse so special and where the best places Michiganders can watch it.
“It’s not all the time that we get to see a solar eclipse where the moon appears to cover the sun, and because you have to be in that path of totality, you have to be in the right place at the right time,” Schmoll said. “And so getting to one, you often have to travel. So to have one in our own backyard, in a way is really exciting to be able to go see this this event.”
The path of totality itself will be about 100 miles wide. Those who are along that line will experience the eclipse for longer than others, with the longest being 4-5 minutes. But what is the path of totality?
“During a total solar eclipse, the moon gets lined up perfectly with the Earth and the sun so that it will block the sun and so as it does that, the moon casts a shadow onto the Earth. So as the moon continues to move in its orbit and the Earth rotates, that shadow will move across the earth and so where that shadow is is the path of totality,” Schmoll said. “And the shadow it casts has a darker part of the shadow, which we call the umbra. And then there’s a penumbra, which is the lighter part of the shadow. And so the path of totality specifically is the path of that umbra, the darkest part. Now, outside of that, in the path of the penumbra, you will still see a partial solar eclipse and not a total solar eclipse.”
While most of Michigan will not be in the path of totality, a small sliver of Monroe County will be. However, that doesn’t mean the rest of the state is out of luck, as most of Michigan will see it as a partial eclipse where the moon doesn’t completely cover the sun.
“So instead, we will see a sliver, a crescent shape of the sun at maximum eclipse. So it won’t completely cover it, but we will see it,” Schmoll said. “It’ll feel a little different and a little eerie. You might notice a little less light, but there’s still quite a bit of sunlight that comes out of that sliver. And exactly the percentage of coverage depends on where you are.”
She said Detroit is going to be about 99%, near totality. East Lansing should be at about 97% and parts of the Upper Peninsula are expected to be about 84%.
Related: 5 best places to view April’s solar eclipse in the US
If you’re excited about the eclipse, it’s important to prepare to have the best experience. At 99% coverage of the sun, there is still enough sunlight that can harm your eyes, so you want to make sure you have something like eclipse glasses. Schmoll said it’s important to check the ISO requirements and to make sure that the glasses do not have scratches or holes
“Look up at the sky away from the sun and make sure you can’t see any clouds or anything else through those glasses. The only thing you should be able to see is the sun,” Schmoll said. “You can also make indirect viewers, so you project an image of the sun. There are great things online on how to make a cereal box eclipse viewer or really anything with small holes in it. You can sort of hold out and look at the image it projects onto the ground. So a Ritz cracker, a colander, or even a card with a hole punched into it. Those are all great ways to make indirect viewers of the sun.”
Related: Do you need special sunglasses to see the upcoming eclipse?
Schmoll said an eclipse like this doesn’t happen very often and it’s a unique and amazing way to see how our solar system’s bodies interact.
“And, aside from needing eclipse glasses, you don’t need a fancy telescope in order to see this event,” Schmoll said. “And that’s what makes it really great is you get to go outside and see this wonderful experience, in your own backyard.”
You can watch Christy McDonald’s full interview with Shannon Schmoll in the video player above.