If you're unable to catch the total solar eclipse live on April 8, we have good news and bad.
- The good: Another total eclipse will be viewable in the Miami Valley in just a few years.
- The bad: That "few" is relative, astronomically speaking.
The Dayton area will get to witness an annular solar eclipse on July 23, 2093. During this type of eclipse, often called a "ring of fire eclipse," the moon's diameter isn't quite large enough to completely block the sun, leaving the dark circle ringed by light. ("Annular" comes to us from "annulus," Latin for "ring.")
While the center of totality is well north of us, running northeast along a line from Findley to Sandusky, we'll solidly be in the zone as the southern edge passes through Covington, just south of Cincinnati.
(That "we" is -- hopefully -- a general "we" about people in general. Anyone reading this story at time of publication will likely be gone by that point.)
Next Total Solar Eclipse to hit Miami Valley, Ohio, at end of 21st century
After that one, we have to wait only a few more years (and that's in the normal sense of "few"). On Sept. 14, 2099, the southern edge of totality for the solar eclipse traveling southeast will cut right through the Miami Valley. And when we say "right through," we mean it: It's a line running approximately from Englewood, through Riverside and just to the southwest of Xenia. The peak will be at approximately noon.
While Dayton itself will be outside totality, parts of the Dayton area, including Fairborn, Vandalia and Xenia, will get complete darkness. Riverside? Well, that depends on your address. The more "northeastern" you are, the more darkness you'll get.