Carbondale celebrates second solar eclipse in seven years
CARBONDALE, Ill. (KMIZ)
A southern Illinois town brought in thousands of people for its second solar eclipse in seven years.
Officials in Carbondale said more than 30,000 people came to the Southern Illinois University campus on Monday to view the eclipse. NASA said the town will experience totality for 4 minutes and 10 seconds starting at 1:59 p.m. The city will see a partial eclipse starting at 12:42 p.m. and ending at 3:18 p.m.
Southern Illinois University spokesperson Tim Crosby told ABC 17 News that the total includes 3,500 people that watched the eclipse from the Saluki Stadium football field. School officials told ABC 17 News that the school expected to host 30,000 people to view the eclipse. The school had about that many people to watch the 2017 solar eclipse. The 4-minute totality doubles the length of time the city saw in 2017.
For some at Saluki Stadium, Monday marked their second time seeing a total solar eclipse. Kristin and Kylie Truitt of Carbondale watched the eclipse from their hometown in 2017. Kylie, now 11 years old, said she had been learning about the eclipse in school this year, and was excited to see the "diamond ring" effect the sun would make as the moon moved in front of it.
"To be able to experience it twice in a lifetime, it's very exciting," Kristin Truitt said.
Les Payen made the trip from Maryland with his family to watch the eclipse in Carbondale. The family watched the 2017 eclipse from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, but wanted to see a total eclipse this year. Wearing a "Twice in a Lifetime" shirt, Payern said the experience around thousands of others was special.
"Here there was an atmosphere of oneness, you know, one human group looking at the sun," Payen said. "You know, it felt like we were one group of people living on a small planet."
The Illinois Department of Transportation is warning drivers of congestion around the eclipse. The department said it expected 100,000 to 200,000 people in southern Illinois to view the eclipse. IDOT specifically mentioned possible congestion on Interstates 57, 64 and 70 and U.S. Highway 45.
Carbondale is located about an hour northeast of Cape Girardeau in Missouri's Bootheel.
