Staff photo / Bob Coupland Roy McCullough of Salem and a member of the Mahoning Valley Astronomical Society explains the April 8 eclipse viewing areas on a display set up at the IGA in Newton Falls on Saturday. The society also sold eclipse viewing glasses. Displays also were set up in Cornersburg and Columbiana.

On April 8 about 3:15 p.m., the moon will block out the sun for approximately four minutes, depending on where you are in the Mahoning Valley, in an event that will not be repeated in this part of the country for another 75 years.

Experts and officials say the total solar eclipse will be a unique and beautiful sight, although it raises safety concerns for individuals and communities in its path.

The obvious concern is how people protect their eyes while viewing the eclipse, but local communities also should be prepared for increased traffic and technology hiccups.

“One of the great coincidences is that the moon and sun look to be just about the same size, and if you get a perfect alignment, the moon will just barely cover the sun for a few minutes,” said Patrick Durrell, professor of astronomy and director of the Ward Beecher Planetarium at Youngstown State University.

The sun actually is 400 times farther away from Earth than the moon, Durrell said. The sun is 93 million miles away, on average, allowing for Earth’s elliptical orbit, while the moon is a fixed 239,000 miles away. However, the sun also is about 400 times larger than the moon.

“That’s why the alignment has got to be spot on,” Durrell said. “Sometimes, you can have what’s called an annular eclipse, in which the moon is a bit farther away from Earth so it doesn’t totally cover the sun, and you get the ring of fire.”

The path of the eclipse runs from Texas north through Maine. In Ohio, its centerline — where viewers will see totality for the longest period, about four minutes — runs across the middle of Lake Erie and the peripheral zone extends into the Mahoning Valley across most of Trumbull County and into the very northwestern tip of Mahoning County.

In Warren, viewers will enjoy about two minutes of totality, while in Lordstown, where Durrell’s department is hosting a watch party at the FoxConn plant, people will have about 90 seconds to view the full eclipse.

Nothing like it will come across the United States again until a partial eclipse in 2045, and Durrell said the next total eclipse will not be seen in Ohio until 2099.

“It’s a beautiful natural spectacle,” he said. “I always show pictures in my classes, but I’ve never actually seen one myself. Usually, you have to travel quite far to see one, so for it to literally almost drop in our lap is pretty special.”

Besides its rarity, Durrell said the total solar eclipse is special because it is the only time humans can view with the naked eye the sun’s outer atmosphere, called the corona. The sun’s surface shines far too brightly for the corona to be seen any other time.

It also shines much too brightly for humans to look at with the naked eye at any time other than the very few minutes of total eclipse.

DO NOT RISK YOUR EYES

Durrell said the surface of the sun emits about 36 octillion lumens. To put it in perspective, the Luxor Lamp in Las Vegas, which can be seen from the Los Angeles airport on clear nights, is about 40 billion lumens. Or, to simplify it in astronomy terms, it’s about 1,000 times brighter than a full moon.

“People underestimate just how bright the sun is,” Durrell said. “Even if the moon covers 99% of the sun, there’s still enough sunlight coming through that is much, much brighter than what your eye can tolerate.”

Dr. Premilla Banwait, an optometrist with United HealthCare, said the rays are even more focused during an eclipse and the sun emits higher doses of UVA and UVB radiation than normal.

“You’re looking straight at it with the macula, the very center part of the retina at the back of the eyeball, and it’s highly sensitive,” she said.

Looking directly at the sun for an extended period — more than a second or two — especially during an eclipse, can cause a condition called solar retinopathy, which can cause anything from mild to severe damage.

“It can burn a hole all the way through the retina, and that damage is permanent,” she said.

In extreme cases, total blindness may occur, but solar retinopathy will usually cause at least severe blurring or total occlusion in the central 10 degrees of a person’s vision.

Banwait said people do not know they are sustaining damage at the moment. They will start to notice the effects only in the days after.

She said that most effects of solar retinopathy are permanent, and an eye doctor appointment is necessary to determine the degree of damage.

While the eclipse can be safely viewed without glasses during the few minutes of total coverage, Banwait said it is best not to take the risk. She said regular sunglasses are insufficient, and viewers should only use proper mylar filmed glasses. The right glasses will have an ISO number on the side. The only correct ISO number is 12312-2.

Banwait said it is best not to try to view the eclipse through other devices like cameras or telescopes because the radiation can damage the devices and still harm a person’s eyes.

SECURITY CONCERNS

Eye damage isn’t the only concern officials have as they prepare for the eclipse.

John Hickey, director of the Trumbull County Emergency Management Agency, said his team has been preparing for the event for about a year, although he does not expect it to cause major problems, other than some increases in traffic and possible disruptions to mobile phone and Wi-Fi service in the Valley.

“Other than the people that already live here, who will attend watch parties, we really do not plan on having a big influx,” he said. “Our hotels and the campgrounds at Mosquito Lake are filling up. But that’s mostly people who couldn’t get hotels in Cleveland and Lorain, and they will travel from here to there on the day of the eclipse.”

Hickey said he expects most of the attention in Trumbull County will be around Mesopotamia, where the total eclipse will last for a little over two minutes.

He said hospitals have been preparing for a surge in patients just because of the temporary influx of people in the county, and the EMA’s Emergency Operations Center will be open on April 8. Hickey said his agency also will keep a constant line of communication open with area agencies through a Zoom link that will stay open until the event is over and the EMA feels it is safe to close that link.

Hickey said the EMA will stay in touch with Ohio EMA, Ohio Homeland Security, Ohio Department of Transportation, the National Weather Service and local meteorologists and news stations, and will be constantly monitoring a live feed of traffic on Interstate 80 and state Route 11.

“I think some people will be putting boats in the water to watch from the lake, and the Army Corps of Engineers and ODNR (Ohio Department of Natural Resources) are aware of that, and they are preparing for those types of activities,” Hickey said.

He said local fire and police departments also will have extra staff on duty to be prepared for the unknown.

“They’d rather have them on and not use them than be caught off guard,” he said. “At the end of the day, you don’t know what you’re going to end up dealing with. You don’t know who will be here and what needs they’ll have, what ideas they may have about the event and how they might respond to it.”

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