Lights Out: Solar Eclipse to pass over Southern Wisconsin

Although true 100% solar eclipses are only ever visible every 400 years from any one spot on earth, solar eclipses of varying coverage are visible roughly every 18 months on our little blue ball we call home.

On April 8, at precisely 12:48 p.m, the skies over Dane County will darken as the moon passes in front of the sun, and Sun Prairie resident and photographer Thomas Seaton will be south in Carbondale, Illinois, to capture the best possible shots of the upcoming solar eclipse.

The next total solar eclipse visible from Wisconsin is not until Sept. 14, 2099. So, while the upcoming annular eclipse may show a sliver of sun, still it will certainly be noticeable. In the Madison area, at the peak of the eclipse at 2:06 p.m, 86.91% of light from the sun will be blocked. The path of the eclipse from Earth’s point of view begins a ways south of Hawaii in the south Pacific. From there, in a shallow s-curve, it will be visible on land beginning in west-central Mexico.

In the United States, residents in a line across central Texas and Arkansas, southeastern Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, and up through northern Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont and Maine, will have the best view of the event. With the turn of the Earth, the last of the eclipse will be visible perhaps only to those at sea, as it peters out in the mid-Atlantic, north by north-west of Lisbon, Portugal.

In all that area with all those eyes turned to the sky, Seaton is set with camera in hand to get the perfect shots, and in a way has been waiting to since 1979.

“I first tried to photograph an eclipse in 1979 when I was in the ninth grade,” said Seaton. “I was using my mother’s camera to try and take the shot, but there was an accident. The camera ended broken, with the film getting exposed to light, so I missed the opportunity. After that, I did continue to pursue photography, and I’ve been a community photographer for quite some time. But I always wanted to photograph an eclipse, and it wasn’t until 2017 that I got another shot.”

In August of 2017 in Carbondale, Illinois, Seaton did in fact get a number of remarkable shots of a solar eclipse, which are now on display at Beans n’ Cream Coffeehouse in Cannery Square. So, it took Seaton 38 years to accomplish his goal the first time around, but he’s not done yet.

“I did decide in 1979 that in my lifetime, I would photograph an eclipse at least once,” explained Seaton. “Now that I have done that, well, I’d like to again. Eclipses are fascinating to me, and there is a long history we have as a species surrounding them. Photographing an eclipse well is also a challenge, so there is that in it for me. The whole process and experience is just amazing.”

There will be an annular solar eclipse visible in Wisconsin on June 11, 2044. According to Seaton, the next eclipse to happen in the contiguous United States will occur in Montana on Aug. 23, 2044. However, there will be a total eclipse viewed from Alaska on March 30, 2033.

But, for many viewers of the cosmos both local and otherwise, this will likely be the last one they see. Regardless, though, be sure to get outside a bit early on April 8, and be sure to wear protective eye care.