INDIANAPOLIS — Visitors to Indiana's state parks now have a perfect way to view the total solar eclipse and other astronomical events.
The parks announced on Facebook Wednesday they have purchased 25 new telescopes for observing the April 8 eclipse. The telescopes were purchased with the support of the Duke Energy Foundation, Indiana State Parks wrote.
Each state park that is offering eclipse programs in the zone of totality for Monday's eclipse received a telescope. The telescopes are equipped with a solar filter, making it safe to view the eclipse as it crosses Indiana Monday afternoon.
Fifteen Indiana state parks and dozens of other DNR properties will be in the path of the eclipse. Each of the parks in the path will experience time in totality, ranging from 1 minute, 25 seconds at Turkey Run State Park in Marshall, to 4 minutes, 1 second of totality at both Summit Lake State Park in New Castle and McCormick's Creek State Park in Spencer.
After the eclipse is over, the parks say they will continue to use the telescopes for future astronomy programs.
Tap HERE to see the public events going on in Indiana where you can see the total solar eclipse.
Who is in the path?
Totality enters southern Texas at 1:27 p.m. CDT, moving over 1,500 mph. Then, it leaves Maine at 3:35 p.m. EDT. It's only over the United States for just over an hour, passing over Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, western Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, northwest Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
The black swatch above highlights the path, while the yellow lines are the outer edges of totality. If you're in the black, you'll get at least 30 seconds of totality.