On April 8, Illinois will be among 13 states where daytime skies will dim as the moon passes between the Earth and the sun and completely blocking the sun. It will create a total solar eclipse. After Monday’s event, there won’t be another total solar eclipse for 20 years.
Brigid Dowdle, of Joliet, left, watches her daughters, Collins, 3, and Charlie, 7, draw a rainbow with chalk at Little Grassy Lake Campground in Makanda on April 7, 2024. The family plans to watch the eclipse there. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Marquez Scoggin, co-founder and co-owner of Project Human X, leads an eclipse themed painting class on April 5, 2024, at Alto Vineyards in Alto Pass. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
CJ Dugan, a producer at WGN, shows retired WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling his reflector telescope at Dugan’s friend’s campsite at Little Grassy Lake Campground in Makanda on April 7, 2024. Dugan and his family witnessed the 2017 eclipse with Skilling. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling, right, points out a sun spot on a projection of the sun as CJ Dugan, a producer at WGN, holds a paper plate up to his reflector telescope at Dugan’s friend’s campsite at Little Grassy Lake Campground in Makanda on April 7, 2024. Dugan and his family witnessed the 2017 eclipse with Skilling. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
SIU Alum, David Ely, of Kankakee, right, stands with his wife, Jan Ely, to pose for a picture during the Crossroads Astronomy, Science and Technology Expo at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale on April 7, 2024.(Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Krispy Kreme’s Total Solar Eclipse Doughnut photographed outside Krispy Kreme in Marion on April 6, 2024.(Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Sara Ressing, right, takes a photo of her husband, Elliott Zieman, and their sons, Harrison Zieman, 6, and Darwin Zieman, 3, during the Crossroads Astronomy, Science and Technology Expo at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale on April 7, 2024.(Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
CJ Dugan, a producer at WGN, shows retired WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling his reflector telescope at Dugan’s friend’s campsite at Little Grassy Lake Campground in Makanda on April 7, 2024. Dugan and his family witnessed the 2017 eclipse with Skilling. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
DJ Darrius Yancy, 4, creates his own eclipse craft at The Science Center table during the Crossroads Astronomy, Science and Technology Expo at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale on April 7, 2024. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Jaci Fitchpatrick, left, of Peoria, speaks to Shari Humes, of Galesburg, while they attend an eclipse-themed painting class on April 5, 2024, at Alto Vineyards in Alto Pass. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Alisha Harmon, left, speaks to Angela Moll, second from left, and her two children, Lucas, 11, and Lily, 6, during the Crossroads Astronomy, Science and Technology Expo at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale on April 7, 2024.(Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Retired WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling, left, says hello to the father of CJ Dugan on FaceTime at Little Grassy Lake Campground in Makanda on April 7, 2024. Dugan, a producer at WGN, and his family witnessed the 2017 eclipse with Skilling. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
