Get ready for the celestial show the eclipse will put on April 8, here and downstate

SOUTH BEND — Less than a month before the April 8 total eclipse of the sun, South Bend area residents, teachers and scientists are encouraging each other to take part in whatever experience they choose.

South Bend will be just out of the zone of totality — the place where the moon's shadow will totally block out the sun's rays from hitting the Earth. The swath of the totality area in Indiana begins in the Evansville area near Mt. Vernon and cuts northeast through Bloomington, Indianapolis, Muncie and areas south of Fort Wayne.

But the show in the South Bend area will be something to behold, as the moon is expected to block out 96.6% of the sun shortly after 3 p.m. on April 8, and there will be many exciting things to see and experience.

Melinda O'Malley, director of the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp.'s Digital Video Theater/Planetarium, strongly encourages people to see the total eclipse.

"We should embrace this opportunity that we have. It's not that eclipses are necessarily rare, they happen about every 18 months, but to have one in the same location, it's approximately every 375 years likely for that to happen," she said. "Every presentation that I've done for school groups or the public, I have people telling me that they are so excited because they have friends or family in the line of totality.

"This is our chance. Unless you're able to chase the eclipses around the world, I encourage everybody to experience it. It's wonderful."

Totality is two hours away

O'Malley said she will be going to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where a large sponsored watch party will take place.

She said this April's eclipse will differ from the one she experienced in Carbondale, Ill., in August 2017 because that one saw major gridlock because of its remote location and lack of various highways for the large amount of eclipse watchers.

"We have Indianapolis, we have the Bypass. We have lots of (viewing) opportunities," she said. "There will be congestion, but I do not anticipate the gridlock we had in 2017. It is not a single-road access."

South Bend still will have a show

For the record, O'Malley says, the South Bend area will experience 96.6% blockage of the sun by the moon. "It will feel as if clouds have come and dimmed (the area), but not not quite at twilight," she said.

The first part of the moon passing in front of the sun will take place about 1:53 p.m. People with eclipse glasses will see the moon just touch the bottom right of the sun. The moon will progressively cover more and more of the sun until it nearly covers all the sun with maximum coverage about 3:08 p.m. "At that point, the sun will just be a sliver," O'Malley said.

Past this period, the sun will progressively get bigger until the eclipse ends about 4:23 p.m.

Some students, such as those in the Mishawaka schools, are off on April 8. P-H-M students are on an e-learning day, while South Bend and Elkhart school districts will be in school on April 8.

O'Malley said the P-H-M teachers are preparing lesson plans for the students, and all students will be getting eclipse sunglasses thanks to Old National Bank and The P-H-M Educational Foundation. She anticipated that other educators would be providing similar lesson plans for the eclipse.

Three things about the solar eclipse

■ Get the right eclipse glasses: Get the ISO 12312-2 certified eclipse glasses. The American Astronomical Society has a list of vendors meeting the international safety standards. Schools are providing students with some, and others may be available at viewing events at the University of Notre Dame's Irish Green and at the courtyard of the St. Joseph County Public Library in downtown South Bend.

O'Malley said students often ask why they cannot look at the sun and what they may see. She warned that the glasses are needed for all eclipse viewing unless you are in the zone of the totality during the actual total eclipse period. In the South Bend area, glasses will be needed for the entire eclipse period.

■ Without looking up, how can I see the eclipse? O'Malley said a hole-punch in a piece of cardboard will show the sun on the sidewalk or on the ground. A colander also can show the phases of the eclipse. She also says a mirror placed under a piece of cardboard with a small hole in it placed on the floor will project the phase of the sun onto a wall or a white sheet.

Cameras and telescopes will have to have special solar filters to safely view and photograph the eclipse.

■ What interesting things happen during solar eclipses? O'Malley said as the eclipse approaches its maximum, be sure to look at the shadows that will appear to have sharp and fuzzy appearances. Also, look at red and green colors for a phenomenon called the Purkinje effect, which may take place where the red colors will dim and the green colors may become brighter to the eye.

■ Are there any South Bend area viewing events for the eclipse? The University of Notre Dame College of Science will have an eclipse watch party on the Irish Green from 1-4:30 p.m. April 8. Eclipse glasses will be available. The St. Joseph County Public Library also plans to have a watch party from 1:30-4:30 p.m. at the main library courtyard on Wayne Street. Glasses also are expected to be available there.

■ Celestial events at IU South Bend: A "Meet The Stars” educational program for all ages to explain the eclipse and to see the nighttime skies will take place from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. March 26.

Professor Terri Hebert will provide a hands-on activity to help explain the eclipse, while Professor Henry Scott from the physics and astronomy department will provide an overview of the eclipse.

And, weather permitting, a 15-minute observatory tour will take place, with nighttime viewing of the skies.

People taking part are asked to enter the north entrance of Northside Hall outside the performance hall and park in the 20th Street parking lot.

The IU South Bend campus also is planning an eclipse watch party, and details are still being worked out.

Next totality in Indiana: 2099

O'Malley pointed out the next time you can expect to have a solar eclipse with totality within Indiana will be in September 2099. She urged everyone to experience this eclipse.

"I get it why some people will say, "I'm not going to drive two hours to see something for three or four minutes —What is the big deal?'" she said. "I was the same way until 2017 in Carbondale. It's something you have to experience, and you have to feel it to get it."

Her experience was moving. "(It was a) feeling that the sun was more alive than ever," she said of the total eclipse she experienced. "Because of all the streamers, the corona, you see it moves and it's beautiful," she said. "It's not like a picture. It's alive."

Email Tribune staff writer Greg Swiercz at gswiercz@sbtinfo.com

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Solar eclipse April 8 will give South Bend area a show