Ohio is getting ready for April’s big show when the path of the total solar eclipse will pass right over our heads. Since Ohio State Lima sits in the center of the 124-mile wide band of totality, we’ve been inviting experts in to tell us more as part of the Eclipse Science Series. The final speaker will be at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 21, in the Life and Physical Science Building Room 100.
Warning Coordination Meteorologist Dustin Norman from the National Weather Service will discuss what we can expect weather-wise from the eclipse. He will also delve into some of the Midwest’s other interesting weather phenomena.
The total eclipse of the sun right above our heads is so exciting, we’ve added an extra way to experience the wonder through art. 400 Times Smaller, 400 Times Nearer opens with a reception from 4-7 p.m., March 21, in the Farmer Family Gallery in Reed Hall. The Science Building and Reed Hall sit right next to each other so you can move easily from the art reception to the eclipse speaker. Both are free and open to the public.
The art exhibition draws its title from the mathematical precision of our moon that is required for our visual perception of a total solar eclipse from a particular point here on Earth. The moon's orbit is not stationary, it is moving away from the Earth about an inch every year, meaning that at some point in the future, a total eclipse will seem less total in our eyes. Time and place matter. The total eclipse is a trick of perspective, a fact that can already be witnessed as soon as a viewer steps out of the path of totality.
The show features close-up views of the sun by astronomer Simon Tang, accompanied by sculptural artworks by Bill Conger and Jason Lazarus, and photo and video works by Dakota Mace and Jessie Rose Vala. The exhibition will speak to multiple and shifting perspectives, both scientific and cultural, of this beautiful illusory dance of heavenly bodies and the importance of the audience's personal locality in the here and now.
400 Times Smaller, 400 Times Nearer is co-curated by Ohio State Lima’s Ian Breidenbach and University of South Florida’s Adam Farcus. It will run March 21-April 25.
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The Eclipse Science Series at The Ohio State University at Lima is brought to the community in conjunction with Rhodes State College and is generously supported by the Charles River Laboratories. You can link to recordings of the previous speakers through go.osu.edu/limaeclipse. Click on “More information” under each speaker and look for a “Watch the recorded event” link.