The Kirkwood Observatory will offer telescopes outside while continuing tours of its footlong refracting telescope inside for people who want to view the eclipse.
(Nyttend / Wikimedia Commons)
A partial solar eclipse is set to cover about half of Bloomington’s sky this Saturday, Oct. 14.
The eclipse will peak at 1:02 p.m., with the sun reaching full brightness around 2:30 p.m. While it’s not quite the spectacle Hoosiers will see with the total eclipse on April 8, 2024, it gives the public a chance to practice for the main event.
“The difference between a partial and a total eclipse has to do with how much of the sun is covered,” said IU Astronomy Professor Catherine Pilachowski. “So we will see something like half of the sun covered by the moon, it won’t get particularly dark. But it's a pretty middle event from our point of view.”
Pilachowski said this partial eclipse is also an annular eclipse, which happens when the sun is covered by the moon but not entirely. However, only people in the western part of the country who are directly in its path will get to see a ring of fire.
Not to worry though, Bloomington has plenty of interesting places to view this weekend’s eclipse.
To kick off the eclipse, WonderLab will host a celebration with solar viewing devices, a personal planetarium and plenty of astronomy facts. The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the sidewalk in front of WonderLab. All ages are welcome.
If you're closer to the southeast part of Monroe County, the beach at Paynetown State Recreation Area will offer a pair of free eclipse glasses to Hoosiers between noon and 1:30 p.m. There is an entrance fee of $7 per Indiana registered vehicle, and $9 for each out-of-state registered vehicle.
Finally, the Kirkwood Observatory will also hold a viewing party Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The observatory will offer telescopes outside while continuing tours of its footlong refracting telescope inside. In case of rain, Pilachowski said viewers can stay up to date with the event by visiting the astronomy department website.
Regardless of where you view the eclipse, eye protection will be critical.
“It’s never safe to look at the sun even if it’s partially covered by the moon,” Pilachowski said. “If it’s completely covered by the moon, then it is safe to look at and people should look. But whenever it’s just partially covered any amount of sunlight, direct sunlight from the sun to your eyes, or anyone’s eyes, could cause permanent eye damage.”
To prevent eye damage, you can use eclipse viewers leftover from the partial eclipse in 2017. However, there are ways to view the eclipse without special equipment. Viewing the eclipse indirectly is the best way, Pilachowski said.
If you look at the leaves on trees, you will notice sunlight passing between tiny pinholes in the leaves. The sunlight will produce images on the ground below the tree of the partial eclipse. It's also easy to use a variety of very simple methods to produce an image of the eclipse that you can look at indirectly.
“One of them is just to use your hand and produce a very small hole in your fist or between your fingers,” Pilachowski said. “Even crossing like this will produce little holes that will produce images of the sun on the ground below.”
Pilachowski also suggests taking a piece of paper and poking holes in it. Each of those holes will produce an image of the sun below. A colander can also be used to produce tiny images on the ground.
The total eclipse in April will be a bit different when it comes to viewing. Before and after the sun is totally covered, people should use viewers or indirect methods to look at the eclipse. However, during totality it will be safe to view without protection.
“Totality in April will last about four minutes here in Bloomington, it will get completely dark during those four minutes,” Pilachowski said. “If it's clear, we'll be able to see planets in the sky and stars in the sky, we'll be able to see the corona that surrounds the sun.”
