An eclipse viewer dons protective glasses. Source: BLM
On April 8, the moon will block out the sun in a total solar eclipse that will pass across the U.S. in an arc from Texas to Maine. Nicknamed the “Great American Eclipse,” the event this Monday will be the last day for the next 20 years that the path of totality will touch the continental U.S.
Although Moab lies outside the path of totality, Moab will still experience a partial solar eclipse, where the moon will cross over 66% of the sun, forming a crescent shape. According to TimeandDate.com, the moon will begin to block the sun at 11:22 a.m. on April 8 and reach its maximum overlap at 12:32 p.m.
“I’m from Cuyahoga Valley in Ohio, and I know that back home, they’re going crazy,” said Teddy Cronin, a Canyonlands National Park Ranger stationed at the Maze. “They added an extra day off school where I’m from, and called it Eclipse Day.”
Cronin expects that Monday’s event will be relatively quiet in Canyonlands, compared to the “thousands and thousands of extra people” that passed through Moab for last October’s annular eclipse.
“I think it’s going to be a really normal day,” he said. “We are going to be busy anyway, just because April is the time to be out here. If we do see people, it’ll be locals who are in the know—people who just had Jeep Week and just want to get away.”
BLM spokesperson Rachel Wootton agreed. “Because this is only a partial eclipse in the area and on a Monday,” she said, “we’re not expecting a huge influx of visitation related to the eclipse.”
Anyone who is going to see the eclipse should “make sure to use the appropriate eye protection,” Wootton said. “Don’t look directly at the sun!”
People watch the October 14, 2023 annular eclipse on Notch Peak. Source: BLM.
Protect your eyes
In an article published by Vanderbilt University Medical Center News, Stephen Kim, MD, the chief of the Retina Division at the Vanderbilt Eye Institute, says, “Normally, if you look directly at the sun, the natural response is to squint, shield your eyes, blink, or look away. The concern with the eclipse is that when it is in the partial phase, the natural reflex to shy away from looking at the sun is reduced, and that is dangerous because of the possibility of developing solar retinopathy.”
It only takes “a matter of seconds” for the sun to burn its shape into the backs of one’s retinas, causing instant and permanent eye damage, according to the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency. “The retina has no sensitivity to pain,” their website warns. “Since the effects of retinal damage may not appear for hours, there is no warning that an injury to your eye has occurred.”
The American Academy of Ophthalmology and NASA both stress that the only safe way to look at an eclipse is through eclipse glasses with ISO 12312-2 filters. These filters “limit solar ultraviolet A and B radiation to a maximum of 0.0032% and solar infrared radiation to a maximum of 3%,” according to Dr. Hin Cheung, a clinical assistant professor at the Indiana University School of Optometry.
Last year, the BLM field offices and the Grand County Public Library both handed out eclipse glasses to the public. This year, the Library has a limited supply to distribute, but people who want to look at the rare phenomenon can acquire eclipse glasses online or build a DIY pinhole projector.
To do this, people can poke a tiny hole in a piece of cardboard, then use it to project the sun’s shape onto a sheet of paper a few feet away from the cardboard. As the eclipse progresses, the sun’s inverted shape will be visible against the paper.
