The April 8, 2024 Total Solar Eclipse will be a stunningly long eclipse with over 32 million people living on the path of totality. It will be the most-watched celestial event in our lifetime.
According to The Almanac, during a TOTAL solar eclipse, the Moon completely blocks the Sun while it passes perfectly between the Earth and the Sun. A shadow is cast onto Earth, and the sky turns nearly as dark as night.
The April total solar eclipse travels an impressive 100-mile-wide “path of totality,” a narrow ribbon that crosses northward out of Mexico to traverse Texas and other states before curving eastward to pass over Cleveland, Buffalo, Plattsburgh, NY, and Burlington, VT. Then, the Moon’s shadow heads rightward across northern New Hampshire and Northern Maine, even skimming parts of several Canadian provinces.
Not only do 32 million people live on the 2024 path of totality in the United States (versus 12 million people in 2017) but also tens of millions of people in North America live near the path of totality. This should be the most watched total solar eclipse in history, which is very exciting to weather nerds around the world.
Not only is the viewable path available to millions more people, this year, the maximum duration of totality along the April 2024 eclipse path will be 4 minutes and 28 seconds of total darkness, which is almost double the viewing time from the last eclipse event. For comparison, the maximum length of totality for the 2017 total solar eclipse to cross the continental U.S. was just 2 minutes 40 seconds.
According to a “veteran eclipse chaser,” the biggest mistake people make is believing your local paper when it says, a few days ahead of time, “We’ll see the eclipse right here in Denver!” Staying home because you’ve read that “the eclipse will be visible from my backyard” amounts to blowing your opportunity because such statements nearly always merely apply to the partial eclipse.
The 2024 total solar eclipse begins with an hour-long prologue for people in the right place. As the Moon slides between the Earth and the Sun, it does not cover the Sun. Rather, the Sun will appear as a crescent shape. This prologue is a “partial” eclipse; remember that a partial eclipse can only be safely viewed using eye protection.
According to The Almanac’s veteran eclipse chaser, you absolutely must have eye protection for the long partial eclipse stage that leads up to totality, specifically a special super-dark filter bearing the international standard ISO 12312-2.
- Most such modern eclipse glasses are cardboard with floppy plastic filters. They deliver a nice orange image of the Sun but scratch easily, so be careful when handling them. See the American Astronomical Society’s guide for approved eclipse glasses.
- Alternatively, recent studies by the School of Optometry and Vision Science in Waterloo, Ontario, and by Rick Feinberg of the American Astronomical Society, published in the September 2021 issue of the Astronomical Journal, supports the safety of welders filter shades 12, 13, and 14. These all safely allow 6.9 hours of continuous sun viewing. But no lower number shade is safe.
A good idea is to put down your eye filter when the Sun has been reduced to a thin crescent, but only to view your surrounding countryside. Colors are saturated, shadows are stark, contrast is ramped way up. Look for dark shadow bands moving along the ground or on the sides of buildings. Ordinary objects like cars seem somehow unfamiliar, as if illuminated by a different kind of star than the Sun. It’s other-worldly.
As the Moon makes its final move across the Sun, you may notice points of light around the Moon’s perimeter. Called Baily’s Beads, they rays come from the Sun streaming through the valleys along the Moon’s horizon. Right at the beginning of totality (and at the very end), you may see a single bright spot shine out. It’s called a Diamond Ring.
When the hour-long partial eclipse ends, the sight through your filter will be pitch black. This means totality has begun and now you have up to about four minutes of observing the Sun directly or even through binoculars.
- Look for the corona, the Sun’s outer atmosphere, which forms a glowing ring of light surrounding what seems like a black hole in the sky where the Sun used to be.
- Observe the inky-black new Moon.
- Look and listen for animals behaving strangely.
- And be sure to look closely around the black Moon for pink prominences—glowing geysers of nuclear flame. These are often small and best seen through binoculars or a small telescope. Since pointing a telescope and having it accurately track the Sun is occasionally time consuming and you don’t want to waste a second, binoculars may be the best bet. Image stabilized models are the best of the best.
A note of caution: If you’re using binoculars, even one second of binocular use when totality is over can damage your retina. For maximum care, use binoculars for only a minute or less during the middle of totality. You’ll know from maps how long totality will last from your location. Say it’s three minutes. This means you can look at it directly during the first and last minute, and reserve binocular use for the middle minute.
Finally, beyond the mind-numbing natural phenomena of the corona, the prominences, and the odd lighting, there’s the magical otherworldly feeling that consumes all onlookers. It’s ineffably powerful. About half the people observing solar totality weep from the sheer beauty and emotional power of it. “The home of my soul,” is how one woman summarized the 1980 total eclipse from northeastern India.
If you choose to skip this huge astronomical event, just beware that your next chance to view a total Solar Eclipse in the U.S. won’t happen until August 12, 2045.
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