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The Ohio Northern University observatory will be open to the public to view “The Great American Solar Eclipse” from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 21. The observatory is located on the west side of campus, off of Lincoln Avenue and near the baseball field.

“We will not experience totality in Ada, but the sun will be covered up to 85 percent,” said Jason Pinkney, Ph.D., professor of physics and astronomy and manager of the ONU observatory. 

“For viewers in Ada, the moon will make its first contact with the sun around 1:03 p.m., will reach its maximum eclipse around 2:28 p.m. and its last contact around 3:50 p.m. Thus, the sun will be partially blocked during the entire event.”

“Total solar eclipses are very rare for an observer who remains in a fixed location on Earth, with about one every 370 years, on average,” Pinkney said. “The last time a path of totality for a solar eclipse crossed the United States from coast to coast was 1918. The last time a solar eclipse crossed part of the nation was in 1991, in Hawaii.”

“However, an observer who travels can view a total solar eclipse more often. There are between two and five solar eclipses of some kind every year.”

Pinkney warns that it is dangerous to view this event without taking precautions, and the observatory provides a safe and exceptional viewing experience.

“It is not safe to stare directly at the sun, even when it is 85 percent covered by the moon, but we will have several ways to observe this upcoming event,” he said. “These will include the standard ‘eclipse glasses’ and pinhole projection viewers. We will also have at least three telescopes with solar filters that will provide very high resolution. These can reveal sunspots and prominences on the sun.”

ONU Astronomy Club students will be on hand to help with the event. In case of rain, the observatory roof will not be opened for a viewing.