News Photo by Darby Hinkley Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan Executive Director Christine Witulski models the solar eclipse glasses that will be included for the $5 admission price for attendees on April 8.

ALPENA — The forecast for Monday, April 8 will be partly sunny with a 100% chance of solar eclipse.

Head over to Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan from 2 to 4 p.m. for the Great American Eclipse Viewing Party, brought to you by the museum and 105.7 The Bird.

You won’t want to miss out, as this celestial event will not be viewable from Northeast Michigan for another 20 years.

Admission is $5, which includes a pair of solar eclipse viewing glasses and a planetarium show. There will also be music and the Smoking Trolls food truck on-site. Bring your own lawn chairs.

Partners from Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library and Starbase Alpena will be present to educate attendees and answer questions.

Besser Museum Planetarium Educator John Heath explained the significance of the solar eclipse.

“The last time it happened, here in the U.S., that an eclipse went across the country, was 2017, and it won’t happen again for 20 years,” Heath said. “It’ll be a long time before we witness the same kind of thing.”

He explained that within that timeframe, eclipses will cross over other parts of the world, so if you’re willing to travel to find one, you could see another without waiting the full score.

“Every year or two, there’s an eclipse somewhere in the world,” he said.

Heath said it is rare for our region, and even more rare to be able to view a total eclipse, which he will be doing by traveling to Ohio on April 8.

“For us, it’s fairly close,” he said of the location where the total eclipse will be viewable. “We can go down to Ohio and witness the total eclipse. That’s where I’ll be on that day. I’m going to Findlay, Ohio.”

In a total eclipse, the moon completely hides the sun for about three or four minutes, he said.

Here in Alpena, the eclipse will show the moon passing in front of the sun, but it will not completely hide it. The moon will cover about 90% of the sun, so it will get somewhat dark in the middle of the afternoon, but it will not be pitch dark.

“A couple of planets ­– probably Jupiter and Venus — will be visible during the middle of the day, and some people think there might be a comet near that area that we might be able to see during that time,” Heath said. “So, it’s an exciting time.”

Heath described an eclipse.

“The earth goes around the sun, so the sun is changing its position in the sky,” he said. “And the moon is going around the earth, so it’s changing its position faster. So, every month, the moon, kind of, gets near the sun during its phase, the new moon. Once in a while, the lineup of the two gets very close, so that it gets about 90% of the sun covered from where we are, here in Alpena.”

Peak coverage will be at about 3:15 p.m.

“It starts about 2, and … it’ll take another hour for the moon to move off the face of the sun,” he said.

Heath reminds folks that it’s not safe to view a solar eclipse without protective eyewear.

“If you were to look directly at the sun without protection, you would damage some of the cells in the retina of your eye,” Heath said. “Things might look a little bit darker the next day. This can’t be corrected … It’s a problem, so you want to be sure you have good protection.”

Besser Museum Director Christine Witulski is excited about the Great American Eclipse Viewing Party, and encourages everyone to come out to share the experience.

“Sharing these historic events, this astronomical phenomenon that only happens once in a while, with the community … it just makes the whole event more memorable and special,” Witulski said.

She is happy to be partnering with other community organizations to bring this event to Alpena. The library will bring a telescope with a solar eclipse viewing lens.

“The participants that are joining us — the library, Starbase, the radio station, the Smoking Trolls, are really coming together to bring the community a day that will be memorable and welcoming,” Witulski said.

The planetarium show will be “Sunstruck” which features all of the physical characteristics of the sun.

“It’s pretty interesting,” Witulski added.

All proceeds will benefit Besser Museum. No tickets or reservations are necessary.