Central Oregonians will see 26% coverage during Monday’s partial eclipse; some are traveling to path of totality

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- While Central Oregonians can expect to see the moon cover about 26% of the sun during Monday's partial solar eclipse, some residents packed their bags and boarded planes or took a special road trip to take in the full experience in the path of totality. 

While the High Desert experienced the 2017 total eclipse, this one has a path across Mexico, the Central and Eastern U.S. and Canada. Which means the moon will completely block the face of the sun for a brief period known as totality.

 We will roughly see 26 percent coverage of the sun, which will occur around 11:25 a.m. There's a chance of some cloud cover over Central Oregon, but we're likely to have have mostly sunny skies Monday morning. 

But some are traveling for what could call an "eclipse vacation."

Bend residents Sandy and Jim Smith traveled to Texas to be in the path of totality. 

Sandy Smith said Sunday that involved "flying to Dallas. I've been watching it for a while and thinking about how best to go and where best to go. I picked Dallas because it seemed like the weather in the South might be nicer there. We were in Corvallis for 2017, and that was such an awesome experience!"

Meanwhile, Gayle Buskuhl of Redmond said she was flying to Dayton, Ohio "to view the eclipse with extended family."

"My brother and his wife are driving up from Ormond Beach, Florida," she said. "We will meet up at my niece's house in Tipp City, Ohio, so we can all watch together and have a big BBQ afterwards. There will be 14 of us from the same family!"

Prineville residents Lynda and Ross Biederman, who saw the 2017 eclipse from near Ontario, are traveling a good deal farther this time, to Copperas Cove, Texas.

"We left Monday so we could sightsee and visit friends and family along the way," they wrote. "Stopped at three national parks along the way and visiting two more on the way home."

Andy Holderness of Redmond said he and his wife flew to Dallas to meet up with family members and view the eclipse, having watched the 2017 eclipse from Salem.

Bob Grossfeld, executive director of the Cascade Astronomy and Rocketry Academy, said, "It's a really unique experience. and the next one we have here will be 2044 that will be on the U.S. mainland. So about 300 more years until Central Oregon gets to experience what we did in 2017."

In order to be safe, never look at the sun without proper equipment. Be sure to use solar viewing glasses or use specialized filters for telescopes or cameras. 

Cascade Astronomy & Rocketry Academy will be setting up telescopes in the Old Mill District during the partial eclipse on Monday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Here are maps of the path of totality for past and future eclipses through 2045.