(WWJ) — We’re a little more than a month out from “one of nature’s most amazing and awe-inspiring sights.”
A large portion of the U.S. will experience a total solar eclipse on April 8, with the path of totality stretching from Southern Texas all the way to Maine.
While only a “small sliver” of the path of totality will touch Michigan, many Metro Detroiters are gearing up to take a short trip to Toledo, Ohio to experience the first total solar eclipse since 2017.
While we saw a partial eclipse in Metro Detroit that summer, the path of totality was nowhere near Michigan. But this time around, we’ll be within a short drive of it, which astronomer and physicist David Gerdes says is well worth it.
“If you can get yourself into the path of totality, you will never regret the experience. It’s one of the most amazing things you can see,” Gerdes told WWJ’s Mike Campbell live on air Saturday morning.
What exactly will be happening during the total solar eclipse?
In what Gerdes describes as “one of nature’s most amazing and awe-inspiring sights,” the moon will pass directly in front of the sun and cover it completely.
“It’s sort of an amazing cosmic coincidence that the moon is 400 times smaller than the sun, but the sun is 400 times further away so they seem the exact same size to us and the moon can just barely cover the sun,” he said.
When that happens, the moon will cast a shadow onto the Earth that is about 100 miles wide and moving across the Earth’s surface at more than 1500 mph.
“That’s called the path of totality and if you’re inside that path, you will experience darkness that is almost as deep as full night time,” Gerdes said. “It’s about as dark as maybe 45 minutes or so after sunset. It is dark enough that animals and birds and insects will get confused and start displaying their night time behavior.”
He says during that time the temperature will drop about 10 degrees and the wind may pick up due to that temperature change.
So when and where can you see the total solar eclipse?
Here in Metro Detroit the eclipse will begin shortly before 2 p.m. on April 8 when the moon “takes a tiny little bite out of the limb of the sun,” Gerdes said.
From there, it will slowly progress over the next hour and 15 minutes or so, with the total phase beginning about 3:10 p.m. and lasting about four minutes, about twice as long as in 2017. The eclipse will end around 4:30 p.m.
NASA has released a map showing the path of totality, with Toledo, Indianapolis and Cleveland being the closest big cities in the path.
Do you need any sort of special equipment for the eclipse?
Campbell recently saw a stack of solar eclipse glasses on sale at Walmart and asked Gerdes if they’re actually necessary.
“Excitement is really building and it’s great to see that it’s getting so much publicity,” Gerdes said. “It is never safe to look directly at the sun without special eye protection, except during the total phase of the eclipse, if you’re fortunate enough to be in the path of totality.”
Gerdes says during any other phase of the eclipse, including when it’s only partial, you must wear “these very, very dark solar eclipse glasses.”
“They’re so dark that you really can’t see anything through them, except the sun. That’s how you know they’re working,” he said.