Set your watch: Eclipse is coming
Part of N.E. to be in path next April
If you haven’t seen a total solar eclipse, the thought of someone spending thousands of dollars to fly halfway across the world for an experience barely two minutes long seems a bit absurd. But if you have seen one, you know why some people live their lives longing for the next one — like the one that will visit the United States next year.
Monday, April 8, 2024, will feature a midday nightfall for tens of millions of Americans. Residents in major cities including Austin, Texas, San Antonio, Dallas, Little Rock, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Rochester will see day turn to night for up to four minutes as the moon transits the sun and extinguishes its light. In New England, parts of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine will be in the path of totality, the narrow swath of Earth where the sun is completely blocked.
It will be the first total solar eclipse to sweep across the country since Aug. 21, 2017, when one traced a path from Oregon to South Carolina. Next year’s will be longer in duration and cover a wider track, making for a darker nightfall and more-spectacular colors.
The edge of the path of totality is sharp, and subtle movements deeper into the path will nab you more time to enjoy the show.
Erie and Buffalo will be immersed in darkness for roughly 3 minutes 40 seconds each, as will Rochester and Watertown, N.Y. Then the shadow passes over the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, northern New Hampshire, and rural northern Maine. On the Canadian side of the border, Montreal will see totality for 1 minute 20 seconds.
If you’re planning to travel to see the eclipse, consider the weather. Historically, regions farther south and west, like remote parts of Texas, are most predisposed to clear skies. In New England and the Ohio Valley, the weather has historically proved tenuous in early to mid-April, with clouds a real concern.
A much larger area outside the path of totality, encompassing much of North America, will experience a partial solar eclipse. But anyone who has witnessed a total solar eclipse will tell you the difference between the two is — night and day.
Partiality occurs when the moon only partially obscures the sun.
You cannot look at the sun without proper eye protection. There won’t be much noticeable change in luminosity (brightness) of the landscape until about 80 percent of the sun is covered by the moon.
Bailey’s beads will appear moments before totality, right before the moon fully covers the sun. The last hints of sunlight peeking through the valleys of the moon will make for pinpricks of brilliance. They’ll eventually congeal into a single lone beacon known as the diamond ring. Only when that disappears is it safe to remove your protective eyewear — totality has begun.
Totality is the only time the corona of the sun, or the sun’s atmosphere, can be seen from Earth. It resembles an elegant lion’s mane, diaphanous and glowing a delicate white. Each hairlike filament is solar material tracing the sun’s magnetic field. It is breathtaking to see.
The brightness of the sun ordinarily prevents direct observation of the solar corona. That’s why solar eclipses are such a great opportunity for scientists. Science aside, few sights are as spectacular as the solar system splayed out in front of you. There are times it’s difficult not to believe the universe is a sentient being; during a total solar eclipse, one gets to stare it in the eye.
If you miss the total solar eclipse in 2024, there won’t be another in the contiguous United States until August 2044.