(Grant Shorter, WTIU News)
WATCH: Live recap with WTIU News
The following is previous coverage from Monday, April 8.
The total solar eclipse descends on Bloomington this afternoon.
In Bloomington, totality starts at 3:04 p.m. It will last about four minutes. During totality, when the moon completely covers the sun, is the only time when it is safe to remove the eclipse glasses, allowing you to look at the sun directly. Weather permitting, the sun's corona will be visible.
(National Weather Service, Indianapolis)
We’re keeping our eyes on the eclipse — with proper eyewear safety — throughout the day. Our reporters are in the field, capturing the sights, sounds and stories of this cosmic event.
Join us at 6:30 tonight on WTIU or YouTube, or listen on WFIU for a recap of the day's events, with video and interviews from around Monroe County.
We’ll continue to update this page throughout the day, so stay tuned!
2:45 p.m.
Viewers at the IU Arboretum are gathered to see the eclipse. The sky is sunny and clear. Watch our livestream as Bloomington enters totality.
2:30 p.m.
Link Laithreach (Lucas González/WTIU)
Link Laithreach is from Chicago, Illinois. He made the trip because Bloomington is in the center of the path of totality.
“It’s a once in a lifetime experience. I got to see one in Oregon five or six years ago, and it’s definitely worth seeing again. I know the continental U.S. isn’t going to get another one for 20 years,” Laithreach said. “It’s kind of miraculous. There’s nothing else like it in the world.”
2:18 p.m.
The eclipse has just passed over Mazatlán, Mexico.
In Bloomington, we are less than an hour away from totality.
IU researchers are studying animal behavior during the eclipse, and are asking for civilian observations.
Erica Cartmill, an anthropology, anim science, and cognitive science professor at IU, says people can report animal behavior during the eclipse @ https://t.co/2t78tTaVNh @WFIUWTIUNews pic.twitter.com/oTT81sk7ju
— Cali Lichter (@CaliLichter) April 8, 2024
1:49 p.m. Partial eclipse has begun!
Ethan Sandweiss @the_real_sand and videographer Devan Ridgway are reporting from Monroe Lake today.
Jill Vance, interpretive naturalist for Monroe Lake, and her team have prepared eclipse activities for people to enjoy.
“We’re doing pinhole projector builds behind me right now,” Vance said. “We’re gonna have station set up to help people view the eclipse this afternoon. We’ve got a telescope to look through. And we’re going to have a s’mores campfire tonight to wrap things up.”
The Indiana DNR is helping kids build pinhole projectors from shoeboxes so they can watch the progression of the eclipse @WFIUWTIUNews pic.twitter.com/Xruq5G01OA
— Ethan Sandweiss (@the_real_sand) April 8, 2024
1:30 p.m.
Hannah Skibba is the public information officer at IUPD. She said at Memorial Stadium, security standards are the same as for football games.
“We’re going to try to get cars in as quickly as we can, so that everybody can enjoy the day,” Skibba said. “We are prepared for a lot more vehicular traffic than what we’re used to. On a normal football Saturday, we have officers stationed at every major intersection right around the athletic complex, so that we can help kind of alleviate some of the traffic issues as they come up, instead of being reactive to things.”
Even though there is going to be more traffic than a normal IU GameDay, @IUpolice PIO Hannah Skibba says that Memorial Stadium will operate like a football Saturday @WFIUWTIUNews pic.twitter.com/lGz9iUDkHg
— Cali Lichter (@CaliLichter) April 8, 2024
1:17 p.m.
Jason King is incident commander for the South Central region. He said so far, things are going well at IU Health Bloomington. They haven’t faced any difficulty responding to emergency calls.
“Things have gone really well,” King said. “We’ve actually worked with our physicians to be able to make sure that a lot of people were able to go home. We have not seen a lot of influx in our emergency departments across the South Central region.”
King is more concerned with heavy traffic once the eclipse is over.
1 p.m.
The IU Luddy School is livestreaming the eclipse. Bloomington will be able to see partiality around 1:49.
While we're waiting, check out this video from Cali explaining a neat visual you can see during the eclipse.
Ever hear of the Purkinje effect? Hear why I'm wearing green for the eclipse today- and you should, too! @WFIUWTIUNews pic.twitter.com/J2FgdZVWtD
— Cali Lichter (@CaliLichter) April 8, 2024
12:30 p.m.
Bente Bouthier and Clayton Baumgarth are reporting from the Monroe County fairgrounds, where they got to check out the sun through someone's telescope.
Father and son Julian and David Dodge came from Cincinnati and brought a telescope.
— Bente Bouthier (@BenteBout) April 8, 2024
They gave @theclaygerbaum a view through their telescope.
Similar to most people we’ve spoken with, they came here because of the longer time we have in totality- around 4 minutes pic.twitter.com/CGBgMqZyZu
12 p.m.
Kirkwood Avenue is bustling with students and visitors. Bars and restuarants are full.
Students and visitors gather on Kirkwood Avenue in the hours leading up to #Eclipse2024. Bars and restaurants are full. pic.twitter.com/9lVddhLA8t
— WFIU/WTIU News (@WFIUWTIUNews) April 8, 2024
11:30 a.m.
I’m here at Jiffy Treet for @WFIUWTIUNews,
— aubrey wright (@aubreymwright) April 8, 2024
With @georgehale. It will be the epicenter of the total solar eclipse in Monroe County with about 4 mins & 2 secs of darkness! pic.twitter.com/xegckMkGVP
WTIU's @AubreyWright and George Hale are at Jiffy Treet to observe the eclipse. The Ellettsville ice cream shop is offering several limited-edition treats to celebrate the day.
11 a.m.
The Kirkwood Observatory will have a live stream of the total solar eclipse as it passes over Bloomington today.
.@WFIUWTIUNews clear skies in Bloomington today for the Total Solar Eclipse! pic.twitter.com/aaUSI0BA7d
— Cali Lichter (@CaliLichter) April 8, 2024
WTIU's @CaliLichter and Lucinda Larnach are on site covering IU Memorial Stadium's Hoosier Cosmic Celebration.
10:37 a.m.
Economist Phil Powell speaks on the economic impact to the region with a high volume of guests visiting @WFIUWTIUNews pic.twitter.com/D2D97oyAQD
— Cali Lichter (@CaliLichter) April 8, 2024
Phil Powell, Indiana University Kelley School of Business professor, says the Bloomington economy will see a boost from tourism sales today.
10:12 a.m.
Looking at traffic, there are two major accidents on state highways, but the Bloomington area is still clear.
9:30 a.m.
If you need a soundtrack for the day, check out this eclipse playlist our friends at St. Louis Public Radio put together. It has the classics, like Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” celestially-themed tunes and more.
9 a.m.
Good morning eclipse-watchers! We’re excited to experience this with you.
Our reporters are off and running to their locations for today. We split up the gang to a handful of spots in and near Monroe County. They’ll be gathering interviews and footage for our recap show at 6:30 tonight.
The weather today will be partly coudly, which should allow us to see totality.
As many as 300,000 eclipse chasers — called umbraphiles — are predicted to be here for a chance to catch this rare sight, according to city officials.
Monroe County Community School Corporation and Indiana University are closed today. Bloomington Transit’s bus service will be suspended from 1:10 to 5:10 p.m. Plan for extended travel time and possible cell service interruptions.
Keep checking in, we’ll be updating this page throughout the day.
