FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. — North America will see a total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8. The path of totality doesn't quite run through Minnesota – the closest it will be is southern Illinois – but we'll still see its effects.
"The eclipse is a really big deal," said Sally Brummel, planetarium manager at the Bell Museum. "I even have my friends asking what are you guys doing, or, what's the way I can watch the eclipse?"
Stretching from Texas to Maine, this eclipse will last for up to four minutes in the middle of the path of totality.
"Right here at the Bell Museum, we're going to be at about 79% covered," Brummel said.
While we may not see total darkness, there are plenty of eclipse-centered events in the Twin Cities on Monday.
"We're going to have activities all day long," Brummel said.
The Bell Museum plans to offer telescopes outside, as well as shows about the sun playing inside the planetarium.
Brummel says the museum also plans to show a livestream of the eclipse from locations along the path of totality, so all can get a chance to see what it looks like.
"This is something that you will experience in your life where you are, even a partial eclipse, maybe only once every decade or two," Brummel said. "So the time to go out and see the eclipse is now."
Brummel shared some safety tips as well. Your regular sunglasses won't be enough to look at the sun while the moon is crossing in front of it.
The Bell Museum offers eclipse glasses, but we also found pairs at Hy-Vee and Menards.
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