MANSFIELD — We’re now less than a month away from experiencing a total solar eclipse.
On April 8, the moon and sun will align at just the right angle. The moon will almost entirely obscure our view of the sun, casting a massive shadow over Richland County and other communities in the path of totality.
The skies will darken for a few moments and make it feel like dawn or dusk in the middle of the afternoon.
A solar eclipse isn’t that rare — on average, 2.38 occur each year, according to Astronomy Magazine. But it can take decades or longer for a total solar eclipse to pass over the same spot, or even the same region.
The last time Ohio experienced a total solar eclipse was in June 1806. According to the Ohio Emergency Management Authority, the next total solar eclipse to pass over the Buckeye State won’t be until 2099.
Most solar eclipses go largely unadmired by the human eye because their entire path is over the ocean.
Nevertheless, I have a feeling some Richland County residents have seen a solar eclipse before.
If that’s you, we want to hear your story.
Where were you when you saw a total solar eclipse? Did you travel to see it? Who did you watch it with? What did you see? How did the world around you change? Was it awe-inspiring? Underwhelming? What advice can you offer for making the most of April 8?
Please send your stories (and pictures, if you have them) to katie@richlandsource.com or submit them through our Open Source platform. If we get enough, we’ll highlight them in another article later this month.
My own partial eclipse experience
I was a senior at Asbury University in Kentucky during the August 2017 solar eclipse. We were outside the path of totality, but close enough to still get a decent view — also known as a partial solar eclipse.
We all skipped class and hung out on the university green, peering up through cardboard glasses and marveling at how the sun cast half moon shadows through our homemade pinhole projectors.
I remember it getting slightly darker and slightly cooler, but mostly I remember how I felt. I was giddy with excitement. I couldn’t wait to see what it was like.
In the end, the natural phenomena paled in comparison to the joy of experiencing it with friends.
For a few minutes, everything stopped. It was just me, my best friend Shelby and hundreds of others, taking in the world around us.
We don’t do that sort of thing often enough.
