At roughly 3:15 pm EDT on Monday April 8, Northwest Ohio will experience a Total Solar Eclipse, this is where the Moon completely blocks the Sun plunging the local world into darkness for a short time during a period of normal daylight.

The phenomenon should occur in full in Cleveland, Toledo, Akron, and Dayton, including all the smaller towns around and between those. If you have people in Indianapolis, they’ll very much see it too.

You can view the eclipse with the proper equipment, including special glasses, expect to pay about $15 for a pack of 5 glasses. Here is a link for a list of reputable suppliers.

There are several ways to observe the eclipse, such as DIY pinhole cameras, and it is safe to watch anyone’s livestream as well. The glasses will be nice to have, though. You have several months to prepare.

An Annular Solar Eclipse will also happen on October 14 of this year, and we won’t see it, since the phenomenon will pass through Oregon and Texas, plus the states in between, missing Ohio completely. In an Annular Solar Eclipse, the Moon is in front of the sun in such a way as to create a “ring of fire” from the Sun blazing behind the Moon. I’m sure it’s going to be very cool for everyone who sees it.

Solar eclipses happen on a regular basis, but because it is the angle of your location with respect to the Sun and Moon that creates the eclipse experience, that means that you will either miss most or all of them during your life. You need to travel a lot to see solar eclipses frequently.

A total solar eclipse is quite a thing, and it is an exceedingly rare thing to be able to see from the comfort of your backyard, in Toledo, so heads up to everyone who even remotely cares.

The eclipse should be fairly short, so you’ll need maybe a half hour out of Monday to properly experience it before the Sun and Moon move and it’s over. If you can get free for a bit, do it.