'This does not happen every day': Milwaukeeans prepare for partial solar eclipse

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Solar eclipses have captured the minds and eyes of scientists and everyday people for ages.

And Monday the spectacle is set to darken the Milwaukee sky on what's sure to be a collective and impressive scientific journey.

"Imagine if you saw this, you would tell it to your children, you would tell it to your grandchildren there would be a historic memory of this day that the sun went out," said Dr. Jean Creighton, Director of the UW-Milwaukee Manfred Olson Planetarium.

It's an event that comes around every so often, the moon's eclipse of the sun.

"You see in the sky two celestial objects that are part of everyday experiences now, one blotting the other this does not happen every day," said Creighton.

Creighton went on to say come Monday, Milwaukee--- along with other parts of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are poised for a spectacular and historic view of a solar eclipse.

"You're going to see gradually a piece of the sun getting darker and darker, and darker until you have what would be a sliver left, at its peak," said Creighton.

Creighton said the solar eclipse will reach 90% of totality in the Cream City.

"It peaks at 2:08 that's when the maximum amount of the sun is going to be hidden," said Creighton.

According to NASA, During the 21st century earth will experience 224 solar eclipses.

However, the phenomenon has been a spectacle for millennia.

"We understand enough about celestial movement that we can predict these to the second all around the world," said Creighton.

Archives from the Milwaukee Sentinel showed a partial solar eclipse making headlines in the early 1920's.

More recently, the partial ring of fire made Milwaukee news again in 2017.

"The sky opened, and everybody was like woah, and you look, and everybody says totality is different, and I understand that, totality is different, but I thought 86 percent was mighty impressive to see that huge chunk of the sun missing.

While the spectacle may seem rare in occurrence it happens more time than you think., according to Time Magazine, parts of the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, and Spain will experience a solar eclipse in 2026.

Come 2027 places like Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and Spain again will also experience a solar eclipse.

But for some people, the real magic happens in the path of totality.

"It's not for everyone these are kind of mob scenes, you can get stuck for hours in traffic the advice is get to where you want to be the night before."

In 2024, according to NASA, the path of totality will pass through several states like Illinois, Indiana, New York, Maine, and a handful of other areas.

Creighton said, the solar eclipse provides lessons about the sun.

"What mechanism transports that heat that energy to the very outer parts of the atmosphere of the sun, so we are still learning things even about the star that's closest to us."

According to NASA Milwaukee won't be in the path of totality until 2099, and the next solar eclipse the U.S. will see will be in 2044, making the upcoming night within a day all that spectacular.

"It kind of reinforces that message that we share the sky, right? We all share the sky, and it kind of brings us closer I think," said Creighton.