July 12, 2021

Media advisory: SIU marks 1,000-day eclipse countdown, offers expert commentary

Tuesday (July 13, 2021) marks the beginning of the 1,000-day countdown to the total solar eclipse that will occur at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and the greater area about 2 p.m. April 8, 2024. Carbondale is uniquely positioned in the Solar Eclipse Crossroads, having experienced a total solar eclipse in 2017.

Reporters, photographers and news crews are invited to contact Bob Baer, specialist in the physics department at SIU, for information and insight into the celestial event. Baer serves as co-chair of SIU’s 2017-2024 Eclipse Steering Committee, which in June began meeting again in preparation for the coming event.

Baer can be reached at 618-453-2729 or rbaer@siu.edu.