Highland County, are you ready for Monday’s eclipse? View safely, experts warn

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Highland County residents can view Monday’s solar eclipse between the hours of 1-4 p.m., but experts say caution is needed to safely watch the rare spectacle unfold.

Monday will be the first full solar eclipse spanning the U.S. coast to coast in 99 years. But southern Ohio won’t experience the eclipse in its totality, defined as 100 percent of the sun covered. That will occur only along a narrow strip stretching from Oregon through the Midwestern plains, down to South Carolina. (See a zone map on page 5 in Saturday’s print edition.)

Highland County and other parts of southern Ohio will come close, with about 91 to 95 percent of the sun covered, depending on exact location, compared to much of the rest of Ohio further north, where the percent of totality gradually declines, reaching only 70 percent coverage in some areas. So anywhere in Ohio, proper eye protection must be worn during the entire event.

Locally, the eclipse will begin at about 1 p.m., reaching maximum coverage at about 2:30 p.m. The eclipse will conclude by about 3:50 p.m.

In 1999, British doctors reported 70 cases of temporary eye damage following a full solar eclipse, but permanent damage has also occurred. Most cases involved no or inadequate eye protection and many were from spots with a partial eclipse, just shy of a full one.

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The Times-Gazette

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