For more information about how, when and where to experience North America’s total solar eclipse and why you must try to get yourself to the path of totality on April 8, check my main feed.
In 75 days, a total solar eclipse will come to North America, throwing parts of 15 U.S. states into a rare darkness during the day, alongside parts of Mexico and Canada.
It’s happened before, most recently on August 21, 2017, but 99 years ago today—on January 24, 1925—a landmark total solar eclipse came to the U.S northeast that divided one of the biggest cities in the world into the eclipse haves and have-nots.
That day, totality struck just after sunrise, as seen from parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The city of New Haven, Connecticut, saw totality for the longest—at 2 minutes—but this eclipse was most famous for what happened in Manhattan in New York City.
A City Divided
A total solar eclipse can only be viewed from within a narrow path of totality, which that day was 103 miles wide. Millions saw it in the New York metropolitan area and the northeastern U.S. on a brilliantly clear but freezing day, reports GreatAmericanEclipse.com. At the time, it would have been the most viewed solar eclipse in history. Among the viewers were seven scientists in the airship USS Los Angeles, a U.S. Navy airship that carried 500 pounds of telescopes and other skywatching gear, according to History Net. Around it were 26 airplanes, while in Manhattan, 149 volunteers staked out Upper Manhattan block by block and reported back to scientists what they saw, according to Space.com. The idea was to confirm the southern boundary of the path of totality.
Mis-Calculations
That boundary had been predicted to be 83rd Street, cutting Manhattan in two. Everyone to the south was supposed to glimpse a totally eclipsed sun, while everyone below merely a partial eclipse. There is no comparison between the two, with totality bringing darkness in the day and the chance to see the sun’s corona with the naked eye. A partial solar eclipse—even with 99.9% of the sun’s disk covered—must be viewed through solar filter glasses. No darkness, no corona. In the event, 96th Street proved to be the boundary—and the eclipse came four seconds late.
It’s a valuable lesson for anyone wanting to observe the total solar eclipse on April 8 from cities that will be right on the boundary between totality and no totality, which includes San Antonio and Austin, Texas.
Living On The Edge
The precision of eclipse predictions nowadays is much better, but there a lot of variables that differ with each eclipse, such as the shape of the moon’s terrain and how it affects the shape of the shadow on any one location, the observer’s elevation, how fast Earth is rotating and even the apparent size of the sun. “The shape of the shadow is slightly different for each eclipse—it has to do with the angle of the edge and even your elevation,” said Dan McGlaun, an eclipse expert at Eclipse 2024, which has an interactive map and eclipse simulator that simulates precisely what will be seen from thousands of communities in North America, in an interview.
“It comes down to the geometry of where you are located in space, where that shadow is, the movement of that shadow and the movement of you.” McGlaun advises being two to three miles inside the path of totality to be guaranteed you experience a short totality. “But why don’t you just go a few more miles into the path and add the duration?” he said. The closer you are to the centerline, the longer totality will last.
History Repeated
Some cities that last experienced totality in 1925 will do so again in just 75 days. One of them is Rochester, New York. “We’ve been talking about the eclipse since 2012, but if you look at one of our main newspapers, they were mentioning the upcoming eclipse back in 1925 during the last total solar eclipse here,” said Dan Schneiderman, Eclipse Partnership Manager at the Rochester Museum & Science Center, in an interview. Rochester has opened up tickets and announced the initial lineup for the ROC the Eclipse festival at the Rochester Museum & Science Center. Back in 1925, Rochester was close to the edge in 1925, but on April 8, it will be near the centerline for a 3 minutes 40 seconds totality.
“So many shared experiences‚ such as Covid-19 or 9/11—are negative,” said Schneiderman. “We want people to have that positive shared experience they always remember, so random strangers can ask each other ‘where were you during that total solar eclipse?’” After all, the next one in Rochester isn’t until 2144—this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the people of Western New York, as it will be for millions of people across the 15 lucky U.S. states.
I’m an expert on eclipses—the editor of WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com and author of The Complete Guide To The Great North American Eclipse of April 8, 2024. For the very latest on the total solar eclipse—including travel and lodging options—check my main feed for new articles each day.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
