Get your solar-viewing glasses ready: The 2024 solar eclipse is happening Monday. It will be the last time folks in this part of the world can witness the phenomenon until 2045.

Solar eclipses happen roughly twice per year worldwide, but not all are “total” eclipses. A total eclipse happens when the moon completely blocks all sunlight, leaving a “path of totality.”

Our area is not in the path of totality on April 8, like some places in Texas, Arkansas and Missouri are, but the area will experience 0.947 magnitude. 

Approximately 94 percent of the sun’s diameter will be covered by the moon for those viewing the partial eclipse in Oxford; it will get quite dim.

To help Oxford residents of all ages get ready for the solar eclipse on April 8, the Center for Mathematics and Science Education at the University of Mississippi and the Lafayette County and Oxford Public Library are teaming up to host an event two days before the actual eclipse.

The CMSE will hold a come-and-go event on Saturday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the library.