Solar Eclipse 2024

Solar Eclipse, April 8th 2024

IU Astronomy celebrates a total eclipse of the sun

[Below you will find our Solar Eclipse page that housed our information and activities that led up to and occurred during the total solar eclipse in Bloomington IN on April 8th 2024. It was a wonderful day and we were able to witness a spectacular celestial event. Thanks to all that made it a memorable and safe day of viewing something wonderful. See you August 23rd, 2044 in Bloomington IN for the next total solar eclipse.]

sincerely,

The Web Team.

P.s. For images of the day and the recorded Solar Eclipse Live Stream from that day, see the archive section at the bottom of the page. The recorded live stream is over 2 hours long...Enjoy!

Get ready for one of the best light shows ever produced. April 8th, 2024 Bloomington Indiana, home of Indiana University, will experience a total eclipse of over four minutes of totality. You have to see it to believe it.

In preparation for the event, the Astronomy department at IU is offering a variety of activities to help our campus and community get ready for totality. See the carousel below to find out more. Check our “Solar Eclipse FAQ” for more information about the eclipse or to request a speaker or activity for your organization.

And join us on the IU campus at Dunn Meadow and the Arboretum on eclipse day to help us celebrate. For those preferring to stay home and avoid the crowds on eclipse day, we’ll also be streaming the eclipse live from Kirkwood Observatory on campus. Find us at: https://astro.indiana.edu/outreach/kirkwood-solar-lab.html

See Our Frequently Asked Questions

For more information on eclipses, safety, activities, and much more.

Eclipse Workshops

During 2023 the IU College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University presented several workshops for community organizations to help them learn about and prepare for the total eclipse of the sun coming to Bloomington on April 8, 2024. Videos from the Eclipse Workshops with closed captioning are now available via Kaltura.

College Eclipse Workshops

The workshops covered seven basic topics to help community organizations plan their eclipse activities.

The basic science of eclipses (Prof. Caty Pilachowski, IU Department of Astronomy)
Eye safety (Dr. Hin Cheung, IU School of Optometry)
Eclipse effects on the natural world (Liz Aguilar, IU Department of Biology)
The total eclipse of 1869 in Bloomington(Carrie Champion, the Wylie House and IU Libraries)
How to photograph the eclipse (Zolt Levay and Rick Galloway, Indiana Astronomical Society)
Eclipses in folklore (Prof. Brandon Barker, IU Department of Folklore)
Safe options for viewing the partial phases of the eclipse (Prof. Caty Pilachowski, IU Department of Astronomy)

We are grateful to all of our partners and presenters for sharing their expertise with the community.

Science Fest

Join us for Science Fest on Saturday, April 6, 2024!

In honor of the solar eclipse the famous Science Fest organized by IU’s College of Arts and Sciences will move from it’s usual date in October to the Saturday in April just before the total eclipse on Monday, April 8. Science will return to its usual fall schedule in October, 2024.

This text appears when someone is browsing using assistive technologies. — https://sciencefest.indiana.edu/

Activities

Exo-Folktales

Explore and categorize folk tales on an alien world to encourage creative writing with a science theme.

People who study folklore classify folktales according to motif – identifying common elements and themes that show up in different cultures, places, and times. Check out the lesson plan.

Eclipse Activities for P-6

Eclipse activities for primary through 6^th grade aligning with Common Core standards.

Asia Burgett, who is studying Astronomy and Education at Indiana University, has developed a set of five lessons that break down the physics and astronomy concepts behind solar eclipse.

Saturday Solar Viewing Hours

Join IU Astronomy to learn more about the total solar eclipse coming to Bloomington on Monday, April 8.

Kirkwood Observatory will be open to the public from Noon to 3:00 PM on three Saturdays early this spring, Feb. 17, March 9, and March 23.

Solar Corona Hour-Long Movie

IU Astronomy major Rachael Weir and IU Physics Professor John Carini are part of a project run by the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder to produce an hour-long movie of the solar corona during the 2024 total eclipse in the US.

Historic Eclipse of 1869 Featured

The Wylie House will feature the historic eclipse of 1869, when Professors Theophilus Wylie, Daniel Kirkwood, and Elisha Ballantine gathered on the roof of this historic residence to experience (and photograph) this remarkable event – the last total eclipse of the Sun to be seen in Indiana

Exhibit at the Lilly Library

Through July 20th, the Lilly Library will feature “Receding Horizons: A Celebration of Astronomy at the Lilly Library. Curated from the Lilly’s collections, the exhibit will represent our ever-evolving understanding of the heavens. From medieval treatises, to cornerstones of the Scientific Revolution, to handwritten mathematical calculations, the thinkers of the past have left behind evidence of their efforts to explain the unknown.

IU's Historical Study of Eclipses

Learn about Indiana University’s contributions to the study of eclipses in the 19^th and early 20^th century. IU Professors John Miller and Wilbur Cogshall participated in many eclipse expeditions during this period to study and photograph the solar corona.

IU Physics Department

The IU Physics Department students, staff, and faculty are building a special detector to measure the number of cosmic ray muons and neutral particles that arrive before, during, and after the total eclipse.