Detroit Will Wake Up to a Partial Solar Eclipse on June 10. Here’s How to See the “Ring of Fire”
The moon will pass in front of the sun as the latter rises. Parts of Canada and the Arctic will get a more spectacular show.
A partial solar eclipse will be in progress when the sun rises over southeast Michigan just before 6 a.m. Thursday, June 10.
“We’ll only be able to see just a little bit of it here in Detroit as the sun is rising, but it’ll still be pretty cool.” — Paulette Epstein, Michigan Science Center staff astronomer describes the partial solar eclipse
As the moon passes in front of the sun, it will obscure about half of the solar disc for a few minutes. Gradually, the moon will appear to pull away from the sun, and the eclipse will be over by 6:37 a.m.
As long as there are no clouds to block the view, the best way to “see” the eclipse is with a little arts and crafts.
Paulette Epstein, the staff astronomer at the Michigan Science Center in Detroit, says her favorite way to view a solar eclipse is to create a “pinhole” camera.
“If you poke a hole in a piece of cardstock, you can actually use that to project the image of the sun to the ground,” she says. You can also place a piece of paper behind the cardstock to get a similar view.
Obviously, no one should ever look directly into the sun — especially during an eclipse — without adequate eye protection, such as level 14 welding glass. Epstein says eyewear designed specifically for solar eclipses might also be OK.
“If anybody has those solar eclipse glasses left over from 2017, make sure the expiration date has not passed,” she says.
While much of North America will experience a partial solar eclipse, a portion of Canada and the Arctic will be treated to an annular eclipse. The moon will pass in front of the sun, but will not totally obscure it. Epstein says the visible part of the sun will look like a “ring of fire.”
“We’ll only be able to see just a little bit of it here in Detroit as the sun is rising, but it’ll still be pretty cool,” she says.
The next total solar eclipse visible from Michigan will occur on April 8, 2024, but it will touch only a very small corner of Monroe County. Toledo, Cleveland and Sandusky, Ohio will be in the path of totality, along with Leamington and Point Pelee, Ontario. The moon will obscure 99% of the sun over the rest of metro Detroit.
“We’ve already started planning here at the Michigan Science Center for that one,” Epstein says.
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