Planning for the eclipse
Mar. 16—(Revised to correct a grammatical error.)
GREENSBURG — A little more than a year from now, in April 2024, Indiana is in the predicted path of a solar eclipse; the shadow of the moon will completely block the sun for a space of close to 15 minutes.
Community leaders throughout the area are already preparing to play host to the many eclipse enthusiasts who most likely be visiting our the area on that unusual day.
According to Wikipedia, the free online Encyclopedia, a solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, thereby obscuring Earth's view of the sun, totally or partially.
In a total eclipse, the disk of the sun is fully obscured by the moon. In partial and annular eclipses, only part of the sun is obscured.
Because the moon's orbit is tilted at about 5 degrees to Earth's orbit, its shadow usually misses Earth. Solar (and lunar) eclipses therefore happen only during eclipse seasons, resulting in at least two, and up to five, solar eclipses each year, no more than two of which can be total.
Total eclipses are more rare because they require a more precise alignment between the centers of the sun and moon, and because the moon's apparent size in the sky is sometimes too small to fully cover the sun.
Total solar eclipses occur rarely at a given place on Earth, on average about every 360 to 410 years.
City leaders including Mayor Joshua Marsh, representatives from the Police and Fire Department, the Street Department, Purdue Extension, the Decatur County Community Foundation, and even the Decatur County Health Department (to mention just a few) have already met to watch a live telecast from Purdue University discussing the eclipse and what it means to the communities who will witness it.
A Purdue class of industrial engineering majors visited Greensburg to investigate the layout of the community, city resources, and how Greensburg's leaders work together. The team returned to Purdue and put together an action plan to prepare for the day in 2024 when the sun will be completely, but temporarily, hidden by the moon.
"Their main focus was on what communities should be prepared for during the eclipse," said Tourism Marketing Director Erica Gunn. "That is very valuable information for us, because it will actually be a big deal."
The group of students studied previous eclipses, total and partial, especially the 2017 eclipse, and put together a list of things for communities who will be in the totality (complete eclipse) portion of the event.
"There's only a small pocket of Southern Illinois that will be witness to both — the one in 2017 and the one coming our way in 2024," said Tourism Director Philip Deiwert.
According to the Purdue team, it is estimated that Greensburg and similar communities could play host to as many as 18,000 to 36,000 visitors centering around that 15 minute space of time when the sun seems to disappear.
"That's a lot of tourism money brought into the community over a three to four day space of time," Deiwert said.
Contact Bill Rethlake at 812-651-0876 or email bill.rethlake@greensburgdailynews.com
