Find Your Place in Space Week – Illinois Events

SIU Carbondale, in partnership with NASA, is hosting a variety of world class events and activities April 5 – 8, 2024 including ongoing lead up events celebrating the second total solar eclipse visible from Carbondale in seven years. Our main event, Eclipse Day at Saluki Stadium is a guided eclipse experience. This repeat performance of our award winning 2017 stadium event has been years in the making and will be our seventh big astronomy stadium event at SIU Carbondale. Be part of history and join us for an unforgettable experience featuring stadium-scale live entertainment and activities as well as dedicated solar telescope feeds from across North America on the massive stadium score board and screens throughout the area. Michelle Nichols of the Adler Planetarium of Chicago leads a cast of talented hosts and experts to guide you through this twice in a lifetime event that must be experienced in person to believe. All activities throughout eclipse weekend are thoughtfully designed to provide an enriching and unique family-friendly experience centered on the arts and sciences.

Learn More about Southern Illinois Crossroads Eclipse Festival

Celebrate the upcoming total solar eclipse with a day full of hands-on spaced-themed activities, planetarium shows, live demonstrations, and a special project in the Discovery Center Museum’s Makerspace. We’ll also show you how to safely view this rare celestial phenomenon happening on April 8. This will be a stellar event you won’t want to miss.

Learn More about Solar Eclipse

On Saturday morning (April 6) we will have Space Station activities set up in our community room. Stations include Build and test a Straw Rocket, Moon Rocks, Pocket Solar System, Survival Checklist for the Moon, Oreo Moon Phases, Sun-Powered Bracelets and Zipper Pulls (UV Beads) and at 11:15AM – Luna Bingo! Prizes include Moon Pies, Sun Chips, Milky Ways, and Darkest Hour Soda (local creation!) (Carlyle, IL)

Learn More about Space Stations at the Library

Join the Popular Astronomy Club for the partial solar eclipse at Moline Public Library! Watch the eclipse through the safety of solar filter equipped telescopes and solar eclipse glasses will also be available while supplies last.

Learn More about Partial Eclipse at Moline Public Library

The Adler Planetarium is hosting a public event from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. CDT on Monday, April 8, 2024, to highlight a solar eclipse. Public activities for this free outdoor event will include safe solar viewing through telescopes set up around the Adler Planetarium grounds, and attendees will be encouraged to hang out and observe the sky. At 2:07 p.m. CDT on April 8, 94% of the Sun will be covered by the Moon, which is a greater extent than for the solar eclipse in 2017.

Learn More about Eclipse Encounter '24: Chicago