Buffalo science centers in their element for ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ total eclipse

“We have a total solar eclipse coming up on April 8, and for some of us we have been waiting for this for a decade,” said Williams, director of the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium at Buffalo State University.

“We are right along the center of the path of totality, so the sun will get totally blocked out, we’ll see darkened skies, lowered temperatures and stars and planets in the sky,” he said. “It will be an experience, really, like most people have never seen.”

Holly Schreiber, chief scientist at the Buffalo Museum of Science, also eagerly awaits that second Monday in April, when the moon will completely block the sun for up to 3 minutes and 45 seconds as it passes between the sun and the earth.

“It’s essentially for Western New York a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Schreiber said. “A total solar eclipse hasn’t happened for 100 years and won’t happen for our region for another 100 years.”

The eclipse begins about 2:05 p.m., when the moon starts to partially cover the sun. Full coverage starts in most of the region at 3:18. Total darkness – the only time to take off special shading glasses and gaze directly at the spectacle before a partial eclipse resumes – will linger longest at the centerline of the path of totality. The sun will then be partially covered until 4:32 p.m.

Both the planetarium and science museum have already started the revelry, offering events and programs to get people ready for the rare event.