April’s Total Solar Eclipse is Coming; Let’s Get Prepared
April’s Total Solar Eclipse is Coming; Let’s Get Prepared
Let’s Look into Where, When and How You Can Safely View this Natural Phenomenon
Picture this: It’s Monday, April 8, 2024. You’ve just finished lunch and the sky goes dark. Did you fall into a food induced coma and sleep through the rest of your work shift? No, it’s just the total solar eclipse, the first one visible in the U.S. since August 21, 2017. This year’s phenomenon has been dubbed the Great North American Eclipse. It’s kind of a big deal, right? So we should probably look into when we can see it, how to view it without going blind… you know, just a few details that are probably pretty important for everyone to know.
WHAT IS A TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE? Let’s start here. A solar eclipse is a phenomena that occurs when the moon passes between the earth and the sun. In the case of a total eclipse, the moon’s apparent diameter is larger than the sun’s, blocking all sunlight and turning the day to darkness. Totality (or highest peak of moon blocking sun coverage) will occur in only a narrow path across the earth’s surface while the surrounding regions (up to thousands of kilometers wide or 3,000 miles away) will be able to see a partial eclipse. (So if you are in one of the regions that gets to view the eclipse in all its glory, you’re lucky!)
WHAT’S THE DESIGNATED PATH? Okay, this is a lot. While researching the apparent path of the Great North American Eclipse, I found that the totality will be visible in a narrow strip of the Pacific Ocean, passing roughly 200 nautical miles north of the Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia) ascending in a northeasterly direction through Mexico, the U.S., Canada and finally ending in the Atlantic Ocean. Since we’re in the U.S., that’s the section I’ll focus on, but if you want the full trajectory of the path, you can visit the wikipedia page.
In the United States, totality will be visible through the states of Texas (including parts of San Antonio, Austin, and Fort Worth and all of Arlington, Dallas, Killeen, Temple, Texarkana, Tyler and Waco), Oklahoma, Arkansas (including Morrilton/Petit Jean, Hot Springs, Searcy, Jonesboro, and Little Rock), Missouri, Illinois (including Carbondale, where it intersects the path of the 2017 eclipse), Kentucky, Indiana (including Bloomington, Evansville, Indianapolis, Anderson, Muncie, Terre Haute, and Vincennes), Ohio (including Akron, Dayton, Lima, Roundhead, Toledo, Oak Harbor, Cleveland, Warren, Newton Falls and Austintown), Michigan (extreme southeastern corner of Monroe County), Pennsylvania (including Erie), Upstate New York (including Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Syracuse, the Adirondacks, Potsdam, and Plattsburgh), and northern Vermont (including Burlington), New Hampshire, and Maine, with the line of totality going almost directly over the state's highest point, Mount Katahdin.
For those of us here in Western New York, the timing we should be focused on per NASA is the Buffalo time slot. Partial eclipse is expected to begin at 2:04pm (EDT), totality to begin at 3:18pm (EDT), and maximum peak at 3:20pm (EDT). Totality is expected to end at 3:22pm (EDT) and the partial will end at 4:32pm (EDT).
SOME FUN FACTS: The largest city entirely in the path of the eclipse will be Dallas, Texas. It will be the second total eclipse visible from the central United States in just 7 years, after the eclipse of August 21, 2017. Totality will pass through the town of Wapakoneta, Ohio, home of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon. The maximum number of eclipses (of any variety) is 5 per year. This will be the last total solar eclipse visible in the contiguous United States until August 23, 2044. (That’s a long time to wait for a second viewing!)
WHY IS THIS ECLIPSE SO SPECIAL? Obviously it’s the first and last eclipse in so many years, so that should make it special enough for you, but April’s solar eclipse is a little bit different. The last great American Eclipse in 2017 was when the sun’s activity was approaching a minimum (it got a little burnt out and needed a break… *crickets*) and because of this, at the moment of totality, it was possible to look briefly at the convergence with naked eyes. This year’s eclipse is happening when our sun is at the peak of its activity cycle. (So not only is this one not even a little safe to look at without the proper viewing equipment, but it could also effect our communication/navigation satellites that orbit our planet or even mess with our power grid operations right here on the surface.)
HOW DO WE VIEW THE ECLIPSE SAFELY? The whole threat of blindness from staring at the sun is no joke on the day of a solar eclipse. Except during a very brief total phase of a total solar eclipse, when the moon completely blocks out the sun, it is not safe to look at it directly without specialized eye protection specifically for solar viewing. If you try to look at the sun though a camera lens, binoculars, a telescope or the naked eye, without a special purpose solar filter secured over your optics, you will instantly (as in right then and there) suffer severe eye injury (and possibly, actually go blind. So I’d personally avoid this.)
In order to avoid what I can only assume seems like a bad time, you should look into picking up a pair of eclipse glasses or a solar handheld viewer. Please note that eclipse glasses are not regular sunglasses. It doesn’t matter how dark a pair of regular sunglasses are, they are not even a little good enough to stare at the sun. Eclipse glasses are actually thousands of times darker and must comply with ISO 12312-2 international standard. (DO NOT USE THEM with cameras, binoculars or telescopes. Those items require different types of solar filters and you should always seek expert advice before attempting to outfit your own equipment with a solar filter.)
And remember that just because it is dark outside, doesn’t mean you aren’t still standing under direct sunlight in the middle of the day. Remember to wear sunscreen and other appropriate outdoor attire.
IMPORTANT LOCAL NEWS: The reason we are putting this out here 2-1/2 months early, is because it’s not just the amazing phenomena of the eclipse that will be happening on April 8th but the many other factors you should note. This is a huge event that a lot of people want to see and hotel rooms all around us are already booking up. Niagara Falls and Buffalo Chambers have already reported working on plans to distribute glasses and work on a traffic plan to handle the influx of tourism during the event.
Down here in Cattaraugus County, the Cattaraugus County Tourism office is hard at work on the same type of plan for our area. More information will be released as it is finalized moving forward, in regards to increased traffic, mass gatherings and supplying eclipse glasses. There is also the issue of local weather, as April can be a mix of snow and mud and the fact that the eclipse can cause disorientation in animals as well as people or the temp could drop 20 degrees in less than 2 minutes, which could prove an issue for people with temperature sensitivities. Once the information has been made public knowledge, we will make sure to share it with you.
IN CLOSING: None of this is to try and dissuade anyone from getting a chance to see a once in so many years opportunity. We just want to help you do it safely. So remember to dress correctly for the weather, be patient and kind to your fellow human beings who want to enjoy the natural show as much as you, keep an eye on the weather but for whatever god(s) you choose to recognize sake(s), PLEASE DON’T LOOK AT THE SUN without the proper viewing materials. And if you want to make sure you don’t miss out on the eclipse, you can visit enchantedmountains.com to view the countdown timer or download it for yourself.
The 2024 total solar eclipse path crosses from Mexico, through the United States from Texas to Maine, and up through Canada. Photo / NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio