A different kind of sunblock
When moon totally blocks sun, southern Illinois will have chance to shine
An Aug. 21 solar eclipse can be seen nationwide, but southern Illinois is taking advantage of its great view.
MAKANDA, Ill. — Southern Illinois is about to have its moment in the sun — and out of it — Aug. 21.
That’s when a total solar eclipse will make its way over the U.S. mainland, coast to coast, for the first time in nearly a century.
Tens of thousands of people, including a small army of NASA scientists who will be broadcasting the cosmic spectacle from Carbondale, are expected to pour into a diagonal swath at the bottom tip of the state.
Astronomers, serious eclipse-chasers, regular Joes with FOMO — they’re all looking to snag a coveted spot in the “path of totality,” a 70-mile-wide sweet spot in which the moon will completely block the sun as the eclipse makes its crosscountry trek from Oregon to South Carolina.
While the rest of the continental U.S. will have to make due with a partial eclipse, those in the path of totality will be treated to an unforgettable natural wonder, provided the weather cooperates and the clouds stay away.
What can they expect? Well, that glowing ball of hot gas we call the sun will take on the appearance of a black hole surrounded by a pearly white wreath, the sun’s rarely visible corona.
Day becomes night. Temperatures drop. So do jaws. Jupiter, Venus, Mercury — maybe even Mars — come into view. Birds make a beeline for their nests. Cicadas, crickets and frogs pump up the volume.
Suffice to say, it will be quite a show. And the town where that show will play the longest is Makanda, a small village surrounded by the hills of Shawnee National Forest, 7 miles south of Carbondale.
“Right over Makanda, Ill., is where the eclipse will reach its maximum duration,” said the village’s eclipse coordinator, Joe McFarland. “We have about 2 minutes and 41.6 seconds of totality over Makanda and nowhere else on Earth. That’s why we’re so special.”
Something else that makes this part of the country special, from an astronomy standpoint: Another total solar eclipse will swing by April 8, 2024. That one will make its way northeast from Mexico to Maine, hitting the Makanda area for the second time in seven years — a much shorter wait than the 375 or so years it takes, on average, for that to happen.
The difference between the length of darkness that people will experience in Makanda compared with its neighbors is small — a matter of seconds. But the bragging rights are big. Even the Makanda post office has gotten in on the act, with a commemorative “peak eclipse duration” hand stamp ready to go as of Aug. 21.
Eclipse-related T-shirts, mugs, viewing glasses and other souvenirs are for sale at Eclipse Kitchen, 514 Makanda Road. The place is part cafe, part eclipse headquarters for this quirky town of 600.
A few doors down is Dave Dardis’ Rainmaker Studio. Dardis, a metalwork artist, painted a red line that starts on the street and continues through his front door, tracing what experts predict will be the center line in the path of totality. It leads straight into Dardis’ studio and gallery, where the ample inventory includes handmade solar pendants for $30.
Among the grapevines at Makanda’s Blue Sky Vineyard is a sign with an aerial view noting NASA’s nearby coordinates for the point of greatest duration — the longest period of darkness — during the eclipse. The winery, like many in this grape-growing region, will start celebrating the weekend before that Monday’s eclipse, with live music, food and the like.
“We could have 2,000 people or 10,000,” Blue Sky co-owner Jim Ewers said. “We won’t really know until it happens.”
About 20 miles north in Carter ville, Walker’ s Bluff vineyard is the venue for Moonstock 2017, a four-day music festival featuring Ozzy Osbourne. As soon as the lunar shadow lands, the heavy metal rocker is slated to sing “Bark at the Moon.”
Revelers at Blue Sky will be able to toast the occasion with the vineyard’s speciallabel Eclipse wine, a blend of chambourcin and Norton grapes. The winery produced 100 cases of the dry red, priced at $25 a bottle.
“It should cellar well,” Ewers said. “You could buy some now, age it and open it up for the next eclipse.”
The college town of Carbondale is bracing for 50,000 visitors and plans to
entertain them with outdoor concerts and other special events leading up to approximately 1:20 p.m. that Monday, when it’ll be lights out for an estimated 2 minutes and 38 seconds.
Space for indoor camping is being offered at Southern Illinois University’s Student Recreation Center, and a soon-to-bedemolished dormitory will house visitors too. (Check carbondaleeclipse.com
for an updated list of lodging options.)
The SIU campus will be a hive of activity all weekend. On tap: a carnival, craft fair, Eclipse Comic Con, a taping of Mat Kaplan’s talk show “Planetary Radio” and an astronomy, science and technology expo; eclipse.siu.edu. Some
10,000 tickets are being sold at $25 a pop to people who want to watch the celestial action unfold from the university’s football stadium.
“That’s a great option for families with kids or firsttime viewers,” said Bob Baer, a specialist in SIU’s physics department. “There’ll be programming, and we’ll talk you through it, telling you when to put on and take off your (eclipse-viewing) glasses.”
Another ideal viewing spot is nearby in Alto Pass, some 1,034 feet above sea level on Bald Knob Mountain. That’s the lofty home of Bald Knob Cross, a giant white cross that can be seen for miles. You’ll need a ticket, and those cost $50 to $250 a person.
“The view from there is great on a normal day,” Baer said. “For the eclipse, you’ll see the shadow approaching like storm clouds rolling in.”
This summer will be Baer’s second time witnessing a total solar eclipse. He saw his first last year, in Indonesia. So … how was it? “It’s almost life-changing,” he said. “Most people are just in shock at the end of it. They don’t believe what they just saw.”