Monday, April 8, 2024, will mark the middle of the night for tens of millions of Americans. Residents of major cities including Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Little Rock, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo and Rochester will see day turn into night in four minutes as the moon moves past the sun and dims its light. Astrotourists from all over the world flock to the road of totality, the narrow part of the Earth where the sun is completely blocked, desperate to see the otherworldly.
This will be the first total solar eclipse to sweep across the country since August 21, 2017, when one follows a path from Oregon to South Carolina. The next year was longer and covered a wider track, which made for a darker night and more beautiful colors.
Before the total solar eclipse next year, there will be an annular solar eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023. The annular eclipse will track from Oregon to Texas and will be visible where the sky is clear. An annular eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and Earth while it is farthest from Earth. Because the moon does not completely hide the sun (as it does during a total solar eclipse), the periphery of the sun remains visible creating a “ring of fire” effect.
Where to see the eclipse next April
During the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, the path of totality begins about 1,000 miles east-northeast of Samoa but, unless you have a yacht, you probably won’t be looking from there . It arcs across the equator of the Pacific before landing on the coast of Mazatlán in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. It passes through Durango and Coahuila before crossing the Rio Grande and reaching the Edwards Plateau in Texas.
San Antonio and Austin are on the eastern border of the road of totality and will only experience a few tens of seconds of darkness. In fact, downtown San Antonio doesn’t experience it at all, while the northwest suburbs of the city experience a few minutes of it. SeaWorld San Antonio is lucky to have 2 minutes 7 seconds total.
The edge of the road is generally sharp, and subtle movements deeper into the path will get you more time to enjoy the show. Take the San Antonio airport for example. The eastern end of the northwest to southeast runway will experience only a partial eclipse, but the other end will get about a minute of totality. Choose your location wisely.
From there, Dallas will see 3 minutes 50 seconds overall after lunch, and Little Rock is set at 2 minutes 20 seconds. Indianapolis is also looking at 3 minutes 50 seconds in total, starting just before 1 pm Central time. Dayton, Toledo and Cleveland are next, but Columbus is just out of the way.
Erie and Buffalo will be plunged into darkness for about 3 minutes 40 seconds each, as will Rochester and Watertown, N.Y. Then the shadow will pass over the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, northern New Hampshire and rural northern Maine. On the Canadian side of the border, Montreal will see the total for 1 minute 20 seconds.
A few lucky places that saw the total eclipse in August 2017 will see it again in 2024 – notably Carbondale, Ill., which is called the eclipse capital of the United States.
If you’re planning a trip to see the eclipse, consider the weather. Historically, regions farther south and west, such as remote parts of Texas, are the most predisposed to clear skies. In New England and the Ohio Valley, the weather historically proved slow in early to mid-April, with clouds a real concern.
A larger area outside the path of totality, covering most 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.
Bias occurs when the moon only partially covers the sun. You cannot see the sun without proper eye protection (ISO-certified eclipse glasses, or welding goggles in shade 14 or higher). There is not much noticeable change in the brightness (brightness) of the scene until about 80 percent of the sun is covered by the moon.
Bailey’s ropes will appear moments before totality, before the moon completely covers the sun. The last traces of sunlight rising through the valleys of the moon make pinpricks of light. Eventually they will be filled with a single beacon known as a diamond ring. Once that’s gone it’s safe to remove your protective eyewear – the whole thing has begun.
Totality is the only time when the sun’s corona, or the sun’s atmosphere, is visible from Earth. It resembles an elegant lion’s mane, diaphanous and shining a delicate white. Each hair-like filament is solar material that tracks the sun’s magnetic field. It’s stunning to watch.
The corona is hot – close to 2 million degrees Kelvin. That makes it an order of magnitude hotter than the surface of the sun. It is less dense, however, and is made of ionized gases. In fact, it is only about one ten billionth of the density of Earth’s atmosphere at sea level.
Sunlight usually prevents direct observation of the solar corona. That’s why solar eclipses are a great opportunity for scientists. Science aside, few sights are as spectacular as the solar system floating in front of you. There are times when it is hard not to believe that the universe is a living being; during a total solar eclipse, one can gaze upon it.
More total solar eclipse viewing opportunities, but not for decades
If you miss the total solar eclipse in 2024, there won’t be another in the contiguous United States until August 2044. The path of totality will only cross a small section of the north-central part of the Lower 48 — from western North Dakota into Montana — before turning north into Canada.
The good news is that there will be a more widely visible total solar eclipse next year. On August 12, 2045, a total solar eclipse will cross the country from coast to coast, similar to August 2017, but wider and farther south, from northern California to central Florida.
The 2045 eclipse will be the last coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in the United States this century. However, five more total solar eclipses will cross small sections of the country – in 2052, 2078, 2079, 2097 (visible only in Alaska) and 2099.
Justin Grieser and Jason Samenow contributed to this report.
