“If you haven’t seen a total solar eclipse, you haven’t seen anything.” So ends NASA’s new trailer for what is arguably the celestial highlight not only of 2024 but of the entire decade—and possibly many Americans’ lifetimes.
NASA is correct—it’s the sight of your life, and it’s not going to return to North America until 2033 (in Alaska) and 2044 (in Montana and the Dakotas).
Publicizing its plans to broadcast April’s total solar eclipse from locations across the U.S., the space agency’s short trailer on YouTube is high on drama.
Shadow Of The Moon
On Monday, April 8, a path of totality—the moon’s shadow—will travel from Mexico’s Pacific coast to Newfoundland in Canada via parts of 15 U.S. states.
While only those inside a 115-mile wide path will see the eclipse and experience totality—darkness in the day and falling temperatures, everyone else in North America will see a partial solar eclipse of varying degrees.
A Connection To Space
Lasting 1 minute 8 seconds, the video—published on NASA’s YouTube channel—puts the experience of totality front and center. “When you experience an eclipse, you feel a connection to space,” proclaims one voice. “The universe is out there, and it’s affecting us—we are in space,” adds another.
Both quotes relate to the sudden feeling of syzergy—the alignment of the sun, the moon, and you—reported by eclipse chasers as the moon’s shadow sweeps across, suddenly revealing see the sun’s corona to the naked eye.
However, NASA also put out a safety reminder, telling observers that except during the brief total phase of a total solar eclipse, when the moon completely blocks the sun’s bright face, it is not safe to look directly at the sun without specialized eye protection for solar viewing.
When NASA Will Broadcast The Total Solar Eclipse
The video also invites the viewer to “Experience it live with NASA as we travel across the path of a total solar eclipse,” which should be easy to do on April 8 (and may, if skies are cloudy, be the only way to follow the progress of the moon across the sun).
NASA confirmed that it will provide live broadcast coverage on April 8 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT (1700 to 2000 UTC) on NASA TV, NASA.gov, the NASA app, and on YouTube.
Where NASA Will Broadcast The Total Solar Eclipse
NASA will broadcast live to the world from four venues on April 8:
The total solar eclipse is also set to be streamed live on its YouTube channel by The Discovery Channel from the 2024 Eclipse Over Texas public event in Waco, Texas. It will also be streamed from mobile observatories throughout the path of totality to YouTube by Timeanddate, Slooh and Exploratorium.
For the latest on all aspects of April 8’s total solar eclipse in North America check my main feed for new articles each day.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
