August 15, 2023
The next Great American Eclipse is due to cross the country in April 2024 and millions of people are planning to see it.
On Saturday, September 2, at 3:30 pm, the Delta College Planetarium in Bay City will
open a feature show designed to help the public prepare for the event. Eclipse: The
Sun Revealed utilizes the unique immersive environment of the dome theater to show
how eclipses occur, where the best viewing areas will be, and how to view them safely.
“A live epilogue at the end of each show will provide recommendations for viewing
the eclipse. Only a partial eclipse will be visible from Michigan, which is nothing
special because everyone in the United States will get that,” says Mike Murray, astronomer
and planetarium manager. “The key is getting into the shadow of totality, where the
moon covers the entire disk of the sun. That path will get as close as Indiana and
Ohio, so we’ll show you how to make travel plans now.”
The last Great American Eclipse in 2017 was the best to cross the country since 1918,
with the shadow of totality coming as close as southern Illinois. On April 8, 2024,
the next total solar eclipse to cross the United States comes closer to Michigan.
Though viewers in Michigan will see only a partial eclipse of the sun, the show will
emphasize the need to travel to the shadow of totality. The next solar eclipse like
this won’t return to the U.S. until 2045.
This fulldome production features exciting visuals that will explore the cultural
views of eclipses, the geometry that gives us different kinds of eclipses, scientific
discoveries generated by total solar eclipses, recreations of what viewers can see
from within the shadow of a total solar eclipse, and even personal accounts of the
experience.
The family-friendly event has a run time of 35 minutes, accompanied by a short follow-on
presentation about the current night sky and hot topics. The program runs every Saturday
at 3:30pm through March 30, 2024 - except September 23, October 7 and December 30.
General admission tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for children 3-18, seniors, students
and military. Tickets are available for purchase online or onsite.
The Delta College Planetarium is located at 100 Center Avenue in downtown Bay City.
For more information, visit delta.edu/planetarium or call 989-667-2260.