For the second time in less than a decade, a total solar eclipse will darken skies and delight millions over the North American continent.
Over six years ago I joined countless Americans who donned goofy sunglasses fit for a welder and looked straight at the sun as the moon slid in front of it from our vantage point.
I was also among the more privileged subset who managed to get ourselves situated along the path of totality, where the sun was temporarily completely blocked by the moon’s disc. This made it safe to remove our cardboard shades and stare directly at the roiling star with no fear of scorching our retinas.
That day I was standing in the middle of some grassy ranchland in Wyoming as the sky dimmed to eerie, dusky levels despite it being nearly midday. The temperature dropped and the sun was replaced by a dark spot with lightning-like tendrils of light dancing around it, as our star’s corona worked to remind us it had not actually gone anywhere.
This whole scene will repeat in a little over two months on April 8, 2024 across a narrow swath stretching from Mazatlan, Mexico to northeast Canada.
You would have to go back to 1979 to find the last time the view of a total eclipse was this good from North America, and that was mainly visible over Canada. The east coast of the US had a good view of totality back in 1970. So the fact that some very populated parts of the continent are getting two opportunities to see such a rare sight in seven years is itself quite rare.
If you miss it this time, your next chance would require traveling to Spain or Iceland in August of 2026. People in the 48 contiguous US states will have to wait until 2045.
One small area near the border of southern Illinois and Missouri is lucky enough to be along the path of totality for both this eclipse and the previous one in 2017.
Three Big Differences in 2024
This time the path of totality is wider than in 2017 and notably passes over more population centers, including Dallas, Indianapolis, Cleveland. Buffalo and Montreal, with other large cities just a short drive away.
You can still witness the event without being along the path of totality. Sort of. The experience is limited to putting on the protective shades and being able to see part of the moon’s disc moving in front of the sun. It’s cool. And the vast majority of people on the North American continent will have this opportunity on April 8. But when the sun is totally covered, it’s a whole different thing. The sun is so bright that even when 95 percent of it is covered, you can’t safely look at it directly.
The moment of totality will last longer in 2024 than it did in 2017. The longest the sun was fully covered last time was for 2 minutes and 42 seconds from Carbondale, Ill. according to NASA. This time, all viewing locations south of Indiana will have at least four minutes of totality, including nearly four-and-a-half minutes for spots in Mexico.
The sun is also much more active now than it was in 2017. We are nearing the peak of the sun’s 11-year cycle of sunspot and solar flare activity, which means those dancing tendrils of the corona and other features like streamers, arching prominences and perhaps even a coronal mass ejection may be visible during totality.
No matter where you are on the continent, April 8 is a day to mark on your calendar. And source your eclipse glasses early!
