How to Safely Watch and Enjoy the Total Solar Eclipse Around Central Ohio

Perhaps, after learning about the untold thousands of potential eclipse visitors and the traffic congestion, you’re wondering, is it even worth it? After all, this event is happening around 3 p.m. on a Monday, and the total eclipse won't last more than four minutes. 

“This is the kind of thing that I would definitely take the day off of work for,” says Brad Hoehne, vice president of the Columbus Astronomical Society and head of the John Glenn Astronomy Park, who has traveled to Zimbabwe and Turkey to see total solar eclipses. “I would take your kid out of school. ... We live on a planet where this amazing coincidence happens. Our own natural satellite perfectly fits in front of our home star, with just a little bit of room to spare, and allows us to see this extraordinary sight. It's weird and eerie and strange, and you'll cry when you see it. It's just the most amazing thing.” 

Getting the Right Gear  

First things first: It’s dangerous to look directly at the sun. The rays can cause permanent eye damage. You could solve that problem a few ways, including making a pinhole camera, looking through a telescope with a special solar filter or using shade 14 welding glass, but the easiest method for most people is a pair of eclipse glasses—usually cardboard frames with specially made lenses. 

Beginning March 18, the Columbus Metropolitan Library will offer free eclipse glasses at all 23 Central Ohio library locations while supplies last (limit of four per family). Experience Columbus will also offer glasses for $1 apiece at its Easton and Arena District visitor centers. In addition, lots of organizations sell them for cheap, including the Columbus Astronomical Society, COSI, the John Glenn Astronomy Park and more. Just make sure it’s a reputable supplier of high-quality eclipse glasses. (The American Astronomical Society keeps a list of reliable vendors: eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters.) 

The glasses are nonnegotiable before and after totality. Don’t try to squint or stack multiple pairs of sunglasses. And don’t use eclipse glasses with telescopes or binoculars; a solar filter is required. The only time you can take off your glasses is during the total eclipse, when the moon completely covers the sun. 

Where to Watch the Eclipse  

For all the hubbub around the eclipse and the many community events across the state, where you go to watch the eclipse doesn’t really matter much, as long as you’re in the path of totality. The closer to the center line of that path, the longer the total eclipse, topping out just under four minutes. “You don't have to go to a park or a dark sky site or anything like that. Just go and park in a parking lot somewhere,” Hoehne says. “All you need to do is be in the shadow.” 

Eclipse Phenomena  

During the partial eclipse, pay attention to the strange shadows. Find some sunlight streaming through a leafy tree and look down; the shape of the sun creates lots of crescent moons—or, technically, crescent suns—on the ground, Hoehne says. Replicate the same effect yourself by poking a bunch of holes in a piece of cardboard and holding it up to the sun. (You could also use a colander.) 

In the final moments before the sun is covered, look at a white sheet on the ground or any other large, blank area (like a concrete walkway), and you’ll see an odd rippling effect of wavy, undulating lines. These “shadow bands” are created by the Earth’s atmospheric turbulence, which refracts the light (the same reason stars appear to twinkle). 

As the eclipse approaches totality, when the visible edges of the sun and moon (known as the solar and lunar limbs) begin to converge, mountains and valleys on the moon break up the tiny crescent of sunlight to form a row of bright spots known as Baily’s Beads. Then, as the final rays of sunlight pass through the rough edges of the lunar limb and the outermost part of the sun’s atmosphere (the corona) becomes visible, it creates a diamond ring effect, looking like a glittering gemstone atop a wedding band. 

Once totality is achieved, it’s safe to remove your eclipse glasses. Everything will be darker. “The areas of Earth that are not under the shadow will still have sunlight,” Hoehne says. “The light from that will be passing through the air toward you, so if you look out toward the horizon, what you will see is the effect of illuminated air coming toward you.” It will look like a beautiful sunrise or sunset all around, 360 degrees. 

A total eclipse is also a rare chance to see the sun’s corona. “It glows this sort of opalescent, ghostly white. It's about as bright as the moon. And it's just the eeriest, weirdest looking thing you've ever seen,” Hoehne says. “It looks like a hole in the sky or an eye in the sky, with the corona sticking out in the background.” 

If the sky is clear, Hoehne says you should also be able to see some stars and a few of the brighter planets: Mars, Venus and Mercury.  

Another serendipitous occurrence makes this total eclipse extra-special: Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, also known as the Devil Comet, will be in the night sky near the sun, which could make it visible during totality, though you might need binoculars to see it. (Again, only use binoculars during totality.) 

Without the sun’s warming rays, the temperature will drop. That chill in the air, combined with all the other eerie phenomena, might give you goose bumps. Pay attention to the sounds around you, too. The premature darkness can trick nocturnal creatures, causing them to stir. If you’re in a natural area, you’ll likely hear crickets start to chirp. Frogs may begin to call. When Hoehne visited Zimbabwe for a total eclipse, bats emerged, and elephants began their nightly calls. “It was sort of a buildup—like someone turned on a movie soundtrack of animal noises,” he says. 

Once Baily’s Beads begin to appear again, it’s time to put your eclipse glasses back on. 

A caveat: If it’s cloudy on April 8, not all of these eclipse phenomena will be visible, but don’t despair. Clouds move and change, sometimes providing brief gaps of visibility. 

Relax, Unplug and Enjoy  

Put down your phone. Don’t try to livestream the eclipse or take photos of it. Your camera is probably not up to the task, nor are you likely to have the photographic skill to pull off the shot. Instead, live in the moment.

“If it's your first eclipse, I'd just sit in a lawn chair and look at it,” Hoehne says. “It's such an emotional event. People are so overwhelmed. You don't think straight. So the best thing to do is to get a lawn chair or a blanket and lay on your back and just soak it up. You will not regret it.”  

This story is from the March 2024 issue of Columbus Monthly.