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EVANSVILLE – If you missed Monday’s total solar eclipse over Evansville, don’t worry: It’ll happen again … in 129 years.
According to both NASA and Eclipse Wise, the city won’t fall into the path of totality until Oct. 17, 2153. That’s when an eclipse will sweep from the southern tip of Alaska and beam through a large swath of Indiana, including Indianapolis, Bloomington, Princeton and, yes, Evansville.
That’s certainly a long wait, but it’s a little shorter than the last gap between totalities. Before Monday, the previous total solar eclipse above the city took place in 1869 – 155 years ago. Residents will get their next realistic chance at totality in 2044, when the path crosses the American south.
Here’s some information about the next couple of solar eclipses in Evansville itself, and what the world could look like when they arrive.
2153 total solar eclipse
If you enter Evansville’s latitude, longitude and elevation into Eclipse Wise – a website run by retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak – it claims maximum totality would hit the city around 11:08 a.m. that day. For a few minutes, the moon will become a black dot in front of the sun, a mane of muted light extending from its edges.
If there are people still gathering to watch it, they will likely gasp in wonderment, just like the thousands along the riverfront did on Monday. And with some lucky genetics and a few advancements in medical technology, some of the young children who took in the spectacle this week could return for the distant sequel – like Sadie Stallings of Atlanta, Georgia, who watched from her stroller alongside her parents Cody and Amber.
But according to multiple biologists and physicists interviewed by Monmouth College last year for a series on what the world will look like in the 22nd Century, an increasingly dangerous climate could make viewing conditions perilous.
Retired biology professor Ken Cramer pointed out that the global temperature has already risen by 1.2 degrees Celsius, and he said a further jump to 1.5 is inevitable. Many scientists have predicted the increase could go as high as 2.
“I don’t want to be too pessimistic, but if I were younger, I’d be really worried,” he said. “You’re already seeing the effects with all these billion-dollar disasters. The number of those disasters has gone up dramatically, and they’ve had tremendous consequences.”
A study by Indiana University found extreme precipitation events in the state will become even more extreme by 2100, adding 3-4 inches per day in the rainiest events. That will cause the Ohio River to swell.
Even with all that, the population in Evansville and the world will likely rise in steep proportions, putting even more strain on the environment – not to mention an economy that could be overrun by automation. The United Nations said the number of people on Earth could reach 10.4 billion by 2100: a 2.5 billion leap from what it is today.
The eclipse after that: 2343
After 2153, the Tri-State won’t fall into the path again until 190 years later, on Feb. 25, 2343.
But according to Eclipse Wise and other predictors, the city of Evansville itself will be just outside the line. Much like the 2024 path, totality will climb across North America from Texas and burn through Southern Illinois, just a hair west of the Indiana border.
Predicting what our area will look like then is essentially impossible. That’s 319 years from now: the equivalent of a person imagining 2024 way back in 1705. Isaac Newton was still alive then.
One thing’s for certain: none of us will be around to see it. Which is why many who gazed at the Evansville sky on Monday cherished what they saw.
“It’s breathtaking and moving,” Amber Stallings said after totality passed. “It brought tears to my eyes.”
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