What Iowans can expect from today’s solar eclipse

A total solar eclipse will make its way across parts of the United States today, and while Iowans won’t see the totality of the eclipse without traveling, a significant chunk of the sun will be blocked by the moon at mid-day.

“With its path going just diagonally across the United States, everybody in the U.S., save Alaska, will see at least a partial eclipse,” said Thomas Hockey, a professor of astronomy at the University of Northern Iowa.

When will the eclipse start and end?

The partial eclipse will start to be visible in Eastern Iowa at 12:46 p.m. It will reach maximum coverage at 2:01 p.m. and will end at 3:16 p.m.

At its height, 83 percent of the sun will be covered.

But even 17 percent of the sun still is enough for it to look like daytime outside, so the effect won’t be too noticeable without observing the sun directly, Hockey said.

And clouds could get in the way of even that.

A storm system is predicted to start moving through the Midwest Sunday night into today, so there’s a 50/50 chance the clouds will have cleared in time for the eclipse, according to the National Weather Service office in the Quad Cities.

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Hockey, who has seen 10 total solar eclipses and several partial eclipses, said traveling to see an eclipse in its totality is “10 times better” but that seeing a partial eclipse can be interesting, too.

“It’s such a familiar object,” he said. “We totally take it for granted, this circle of light in the sky that we call the sun. To have it change its shape, to start to resemble the old video game of Pac-Man, is a very unusual sight.”

How rare are solar eclipses?

Typically, the Earth experiences around five solar eclipses each year, but most of them aren’t total eclipses. And even the ones that are can be hard to get to, Hockey said.

“It’s random,” he said. “It could be the Sahara Desert, could be the next time in Antarctica. And, of course, quite often, it’s in the middle of the ocean.”

The last solar eclipse seen in the United States was Aug. 21, 2017. The next one visible in the contiguous United States will be 20 years from now -- in 2044 -- followed shortly by another in 2045. Alaska will see a total solar eclipse in 2033.

Eclipses are predicted based on geometrical calculations and the positions of the Earth, the moon and the sun in space. The rotation of the Earth causes an eclipse to “travel” for thousands of miles, though the width of the path is usually pretty small.

“It’s maybe less than 100 kilometers wide, and if you are 101 kilometers away from the center line, you will not see a total solar eclipse,” Hockey said.

How to watch

Anyone planning to watch the eclipse should use proper eclipse glasses or solar viewers, Hockey said.

“Any partial eclipse — even a pretty deep one, like we’ll be experiencing here where most of the sun will be blacked out — you still have to use protective filter glasses. Otherwise, it is not safe for your eyes to look at the sun,” Hockey said.

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During the few minutes the sun is fully covered in a total eclipse, it is safe to look at the sun without glasses because most of the damaging rays of the sun are blocked by the moon, according to Hockey. But for anyone watching from outside the total eclipse area, or watching before or after the total eclipse, protective eyewear is necessary.

Regular sunglasses are not adequate protection. The American Astronomical Society has a list on their website of companies that produce safe solar viewers, and a number of Iowa retailers have suitable viewers for sale.

An eclipse enthusiast

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Today’s eclipse will be the 11th total solar eclipse Hockey has witnessed. The first was in Hawaii in 1991, and he traveled to Turkey in 2006 and to Mongolia in 2008 to take in total eclipses.

“Traveling to see eclipses is a wonderful excuse to go to places that you might not otherwise have thought of visiting, and finding some very interesting places and people around the world,” Hockey said.

This year, he will be taking 11 students to Indiana to see the eclipse, the third time he’s taken a class to view a solar eclipse.

“I’m at a point where I get just as much of a thrill out of sharing the experience with people who have not seen a total solar eclipse before,” he said.

Each time there is an eclipse within easy traveling distance, Hockey — who teaches science and astronomy courses — teaches a one-semester liberal arts class focused on eclipses.

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The class covers astronomical information, like how eclipses are predicted and what can be seen during an eclipse, as well as cultural information, like how eclipses have been reflected in literature and art throughout history.

The class includes a trip to view the eclipse. Students create a final project about the eclipse, factoring in a “Plan B” if they are unable to view the eclipse due to weather.

“This is an opportunity to see an unusual feature of nature, and you don't need to really be guided or use special fancy equipment,” Hockey said. “Yes, the eclipse glasses, but otherwise it's just you looking up at the sky and you can't miss it.

“That kind of event, that’s so accessible like that, appeals to me and hopefully will appeal to a whole lot of other people as well. This one, because of media attention and because the path goes over such a populated part of the United States, I suspect might be the most watched eclipse, perhaps ever in history.”

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