South Florida preparing for rare solar eclipse

Published: April 5, 2024, 5:23 PM

Tags: Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Miami-Dade County

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – As the moon prepares to basically photobomb the sun, folks at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Downtown Fort Lauderdale are getting ready for an ‘out of this world’ event.

“It’s such a dream for everyone to connect with the stars,” said Joe Cox, the President and CEO of the MODS. “To have that happen all over the US, I think is so exciting.”

Come eclipse day, Cox will be busy as South Florida is expected to get in on some of the action.

There are 15 states that are in what’s known as the Path of Totality, where the moon can be seen covering up the sun the most.

While the Sunshine State is not on that path, officials expect a partial eclipse involving between 40% and 57% coverage, depending where you are.

“It starts around 1:48 p.m. and ends at 4:05,” said Cox.

MODS will be hosting a number of space events and activities before, during and after the partial eclipse. That includes a viewing party on the top deck of the museum, a new planetarium display and the premier of a new IMAX film documentary showing images from the Webb Telescope that is sure to amaze.

Public libraries in Broward and Miami Dade counties are also hosting events and handing out viewing glasses for free.

A free viewing event is also scheduled at the Markham Park Fox Observatory.

Florida International University and the Frost Museum have events of their own as well.

Millions of people though are hitting the skies and the roadways, quickly filling up hotels to get to the path of totality to witness this event that won’t be seen for another 20 years.

While people are going wild for the event, biologists plan to study animals throughout Monday.

The move comes after noticing strange behavior during the 2017 eclipse, including giraffes running in circles, flamingos protecting their young and Tortoises mating.

Biologists in Texas have setup a program to study behavior during the 2024 eclipse, Monday.