It is simple really, yet so rare. The moon moves precisely over the sun and blots it out. And we are perfectly situated with a once in a millennium opportunity to view it literally from our own backyards.
“Yep, a solar eclipse is coming to town on Monday, April 8,” said Art Weber, Metroparks nature photographer. The show begins at about 2 p.m. and lasts until about 4:30 p.m., but the real must-see part of the show will only last about 24 minutes at about 3:10 p.m., depending on your location.
To confirm whether your community will be in the path of totality and determine best times, a detailed interactive map is available at nso.edu/for-public/eclipse-map-2024/, said Mr. Weber, adding, “You also will find a treasury of eclipse information there.”
It is estimated hundreds of thousands of visitors will stream into Ohio to witness this rare event. Locally, residents will not need to travel far, simply step outside their home or office and look up. He reminds viewers to wear special solar viewing glasses to prevent serious damage to their eyes.
All parks in the Wood County Park District lie within the path of totality and nearly all of Metroparks Toledo do as well.
“Eighteen of 19 Metroparks lie in the path of totality,” explained Scott Carpenter, public relations director. “Only Secor is outside the path. And it will be 99 percent.”
But 99 percent is not good enough when the real deal is such a short distance away. Even that short distance outside the path of totality makes a huge difference. It is well worth the effort to find an unobscure location to get the full impact of totality–the corona, Baily’s beads, and the diamond ring, for example, Mr. Weber noted.
Several Metroparks locations will host special eclipse events, notably Glass City Metropark on the downtown riverfront and the Whitehouse solar eclipse viewing party at Whitehouse Village Hall and neighboring Blue Creek Metropark.
“Wherever you choose to go, bring your certified solar glasses,” he advised. “Regular sunglasses will not protect your eyes.”
One of the highlights of the total eclipse will be a momentary burst of sunlight said to resemble a diamond ring. The image above was captured in Tennessee by Mr. Weber during the Great American Eclipse of 2017.
