4-02-2024 10:42pm

Turning Day Into Night

Beth Callahan Editor

Photo courtesy of Pexels.com

WARREN COUNTY, OH -- While there are two to five solar eclipses each year, with a total eclipse taking place every 18 months, what is so special about the April 8, 2024 eclipse happening here in Ohio?

Generally, total solar eclipses are visible every 400 years from any one place according to the Natural History Museum in London. This means being able to view the eclipse depends on where you are in the world and it usually occurs in the same spot every 400 years. For us Ohioans, having this eclipse pass over our state, during our life time, is a very unique and rare experience.

Where Can We Catch The Totality of the Eclipse?

According to GreatAmericanEclipse.com site, the 2024 Eclipse's Time of Totality will start in Ohio at approximately 3:08:02 pm EDT, as its path moves north from Indiana gliding over into Ohio. While the "totality" of the eclipse does not go over Warren County, there are many cities close by that The Total Eclipse of the Sun can be observed according to the Website www.GreatAmericanEclipse.com

By 3:08:37 pm EDT Oxford, Eaton and Greenville, Ohio will begin to experience the eclipse's totality.
Then, by3:09:33 pm EDT, it will begin to move over Hamilton, Middletown, Dayton, Troy, Piqua, Sidney, Celina, and Vanwert.
By 3:10:27 pm EDT, its path will start to go over Delphos, Lima, Wapakoneta, Ada, Kenton, Bellefontaine, Urbana, Springfield, and Xenia.
By 3:11:13 pm EDT, the path begins to move over Defiance, Napoleon, Bowling Green, Findlay, Fostoriar, Tiffin, Carey, Upper Sandusky, Bucyrus, Marion, Richwood, Marysville, Delaware and Dublin.
By 3:12, the eclipse path will have left Indiana and will only be covering Ohio with portions of Toledo, Fremont, Port Clinton, Sandusky and Mansfield now added into its path.
By 3:13:50 pm EDT, the eclipse will be covering a large portion of Lake Erie into Ontario Canada as well as adding the Ohio cities of Lorain, Elyria, Oberlin, Ashland, Wooster, Medina, Parma and Cleveland.
By 3:15:08 pm EDT Mentor, North Madison, Jefferson, Aurora, Kent, Akron and Massillon are in its path.
Still over Ohio by 3:16:22 pm EDT it begins to move into Pennsylvania as it covers these three cities in Ohio...Ashtabula, Cortland and Warren.
By 3:19:30 pm EDT the eclipse moves completely out of Ohio as it heads towards Ontario, Pennsylvania and New York with its path leaving the United States by 3:35:25 pm EDT.
Screen shot of the GreatAmericanEclipse.com prediction of the Total Solar Eclipse April 8, 2024 path. By clicking on the image, it will take you to the Great American Eclipse Website to view the video of the eclipse's projected path.

"When watching a partial or annular solar eclipse directly with your eyes, you must look through safe solar viewing glasses (“eclipse glasses”) or a safe handheld solar viewer at all times," states science.nasa.gov website. To learn more about eye safety and ways to view the eclipse safely visit NASA's website here.

While you observe this unique phenomenon, here are just four of many interesting fact's about a total solar eclipse found on NASA's website sunearthday.nasa.gov....

From the Earth's surface, the Sun's corona ("crown") can ONLY be seen during a total eclipse.
Every eclipse begins at sunrise at some point in its track and ends at sunset about half way around the world from the start point.
Local animals and birds often prepare for sleep or behave confusedly during totality.
Local temperatures can drop as much as 20 degrees during a total solar eclipse.