2024 fish fry listings

Feb. 21—With the much anticipated, upcoming total solar eclipse, the day-to-day has been busy at Cleveland Museum of Natural History's Nathan and Fannye Shafran Planetarium and Ralph Mueller Observatory.

Since a given location on earth allows for the chance to see a total solar eclipse on average about once every 375 years, April 8 is a "huge deal," said Nick Anderson, senior astronomer and manager of astronomy at the museum.

"Cleveland is fortunate that we're going to be able to see an event like this right here in our own backyard," he said. "You don't see them very often in your hometown."

Anderson said this total solar eclipse has been on the radar for many years. At 1 Wade Oval Drive in Cleveland, things in light of the eclipse kicked off on April 8, 2023, a year in advance.

"We did a special day of planetarium programming, generating excitement for the event," Anderson said. "We really hit the ground running earlier this year with the launch of a brand new public show called 'Eclipse Fever.'"

All programming, which is designed to be interactive, is created and presented by members of the astronomy team, a three-member staff at the planetarium.

"We all trade off live programming," Anderson said, noting that "Eclipse Fever" is intended to be an eclipse refresher and features the partial solar eclipse that occurred in 2017.

Anderson believes the 2017 eclipse is still fresh In people's minds. This year, he has a goal of setting expectations to let everyone know that this year's eclipse is unlike what Clevelanders saw seven years ago.

"You would have had to travel out of state to see the total solar eclipse," Anderson said.

During such an eclipse, people are within the path of totality, Anderson said.

"It's the path of the moon's deep, dark shadow sweeping across the earth's surface," he said. "If you're positioned within that path, like Cleveland is April 8, you get to see the moon completely obscure the visible surface of the sun. It really is unlike anything you've ever encountered before."

According to Anderson, spectators should expect the sky to deepen to a dark twilight, see planets become visible and observe the moon looking like a weird, pitch-black hole in the sky.

"Around it, you get to see the outer atmosphere of the sun known as the corona, so there's a lot of eye candy to observe and other strange things," Anderson said. "The temperature will drop, the wind often changes direction, you might hear crickets start to chirp and you'll have plenty of interesting reactions from all near you. It is something to remember for the rest of your life."

The planetarium recently debuted a new public show called "Meeting Totality," a deep dive into the experience and much of the unusual phenomenon that will be observed April 8, and how it's impacted humanity over time.

"We've thrown a little bit of history and the big scientific discoveries that have taken place during eclipses, still getting everybody pumped up for this event," Anderson said.

The planetarium also offers a school program for kindergarten through eighth-grade students, something that Monica Marshall, astronomer, is keen on.

"This is our next generation of kids growing up to be adults," she said.

While kids can experience multiple different eclipses, this one in particular may be the one to inspire them to start stargazing, Marshall said.

Outside of the planetarium, day-to-day life consists of the astronomy team looking up into the sky.

"Something that comes along with our public shows — a sky survey," Marshall said. "We tell our guests what you're going to be seeing in the sky — a planet, multiple planets, star patterns along with a little bit about our moon during shows."

Meanwhile, outside of the planetarium, solar viewing in the courtyard has been taking place.

"We'll take things like a solar telescope or even welders glass so guests can also look at the sun safely just to bring up more about the sun during us learning about the eclipse," Marshall said.

The museum has been seeing busy Fridays and Saturdays as many will visit during the weekend, Marshall observed.

"We have a kid-friendly show called 'One World, One Sky,'" she said. "It helps the kiddos get comfortable with being in the dark and also finding different things in the sky. We'll have people asking, 'What else can you see in the sky?' I had distant relatives of (Albert) Einstein in some of my shows. You'll end up meeting people and having good conversations about what they have seen in the sky."

For Anderson, the fun part of the job is that no two days are exactly alike, as well as the astronomy outreach. During the previous quarter, October through December last year, the facility saw more than 13,000 visitors.

"We do a number of different types of programming, so that could be public shows, field trips for schools, private events and rentals, which is a big hit whether it's a corporate group having their event or birthday party under the stars," Anderson said. "We'll go out in the community to do outreach, trying to be the number one resource for people in Northeast Ohio when it comes to astronomy."

The planetarium will be hosting a watch party on Wade Oval called Total on the Oval April 8. Viewing stations will be set up, and eclipse glasses will be available.

"Partnering with a lot of the other museums and institutions nearby should be memorable," Anderson said. "The whole eclipse weekend, we have fun stuff in store for the public."

For the public to view the total solar eclipse, during totality, it is the one moment that is safe for them to look up at the sun, Marshall said. Other than totality, eye protection is encouraged.

"The partial phases of the eclipse are interesting," she said. "Right before totality, you'll have a couple of phenomena to witness. Baily's beads, right before the moon covers the sun completely, looks like a beaded necklace on the side of the moon. You're actually seeing the light from the sun peering through the last craters and valleys on the moon."

The museum will be unveiling some new galleries toward the end of 2024, which will allow for a completely different experience for guests, Anderson said.

"It'll be this integrated approach, so no longer this compartmentalized museum," he said. "The planetarium will be seeing some major upgrades in the near future."

The museum's biggest goal going forward is to connect different aspects of the museum, Marshall said.

"Every aspect a guest moves into, they can relate something from what they already learned versus what they're going to learn in the future of exploring," she said.