The line in Menasha stretched down the hallway Wednesday afternoon as hundreds of people waited for one thing: special glasses from the Barlow Planetarium to view Monday's solar eclipse.
Becky Walker works in education in Green Bay. For her, the eclipse is exciting both students and staff about science education.
"Science isn't just something that happens in a book," Walker said. "Science happens in life and so it's important that we take advantage of those learning opportunities that happen in life."
The total solar eclipse happening Monday might be news to some people, but not Alan Peche.
"Monday's event is an astronomical event 99 years in the making," said Peche, the Barlow Planetarium at UW-Fox Valley Director.
Peche plans to travel to a spot in the United States where he can see the total solar eclipse. The path for that stretches from Oregon to South Carolina and is 70 miles wide.
The sight will look a little different here in Northeast Wisconsin.
"About 20% of the sun will be visible," Peche said.
But that much is enough to get people excited.
"It's an amazing thing to experience," said Peche. "You're going to see the solar system move that day."
Just make sure you're outside at the right time Monday. The eclipse will only last a few minutes. The partial solar eclipse should be visible around 1:15 p.m. in Northeast Wisconsin.
"In about two hours it's going to cross the United States and be going on an average about 1500 miles per hour," explained Peche.
If you miss this total eclipse, don't worry. Peche said there will be another similar one in the U.S. in 2024.
Unfortunately, Barlow Planetarium has sold out of eclipse glasses. However, the planetarium is hosting a solar eclipse watch party Monday from 11:30 a.m.-2:45 p.m.
For more information on that event, visit their website here.
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