A university-wide viewing of the Total North American Solar Eclipse will take place Monday, April 8, 2024, beginning at 1 p.m., on the Illinois State University Quad.
The eclipse will travel across the United States, Mexico, and Canada starting at 12:47 p.m., and reach its peak over Bloomington-Normal from 1:59 p.m. to 2:04 p.m. with a totality of 95.9 percent. The eclipse will conclude at 3:20 p.m.
To aid in safe eclipse viewing, the University will distribute 16,000 pairs of NASA safety-rated solar eclipse glasses free of charge to students, faculty, and staff beginning at 1 p.m. on the day of the eclipse. There will also be several Registered Student Organizations on Schroeder Plaza to share information about the eclipse, along with a livestream of the solar and a telescope with a solar filter for viewing.
The solar eclipse glasses will be distributed at various locations across campus, while supplies last. A map of the distribution locations can be found online. Once the eclipse concludes, the glasses can be recycled at various locations on campus. A map of the recycling locations can be found online.
The April 8, 2024, eclipse will be a total solar eclipse, which means the face of the Sun will be completely blocked when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth. The sky will darken, as if it were dawn or dusk. The last total solar eclipse to pass over Bloomington-Normal was in 2017. The solar eclipse that will pass over the University on April 8, 2024, will be the last total eclipse visible from the United States until 2044.
