Did you know that Monday’s total solar eclipse will be the longest on land since 2010? What about the fact that the “Great North American Eclipse” will begin in the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean and end close to “Eclipse Island” in Newfoundland, where Captain Cook once watched an eclipse? Or that the moon will eclipse Venus not 24 hours before it eclipses the sun?
Read on for more bizarre facts about Monday’s total solar eclipse—perfect for perusing while waiting for the longest totality in the U.S. since 1806.
1. The Moon Will Eclipse The Sun And Venus In The Same 24 Hours
At lunchtime on Sunday, April 7—just 24 hours before the eclipse of the sun—Venus will be occulted by the moon in daylight. From Washington, D.C., the moon will eclipse Venus in daylight. It will disappear at 12:34 p.m. EDT and reappear at 1:48 p.m. EDT, according to In The Sky, which also has a map and exact timings (though a GoTo telescope is required). The next occultation of Venus by the moon will be visible from Europe in September 2025.
2. The Eclipse Begins Tomorrow And Ends Yesterday
The “Great North American Eclipse” may be on Monday, April 8 in North America, but just after an eclipsed sun rises in the Pacific Ocean, it will cross the Line Islands of Kiribati, where it will be April 9 despite it being east of the International Date Line.
3. It Will Be The Longest Totality On Land For 13 Years
The last time a total solar eclipse created a totality lasting anywhere close to the 4 minutes 28 seconds that parts of Mexico will experience was on July 11, 2010, in Easter Island/Rapa Nui.
4. Dallas Will Experience One Totality Until 2345
The largest metropolitan area to experience a total solar eclipse on April 8 will be Dallas-Forth Worth, Texas, a region of over 300 cities and 7.5 million inhabitants, most of whom fall within the path (though just north of the centerline). The last total solar eclipse in Dallas was on July 29, 1878, when a totality of 2 minutes and 26 seconds was witnessed. This time, it will be 3 minutes and 42 seconds. Dallas next sees a total solar eclipse on June 30, 2345, for 3 minutes 47 seconds.
5. A ‘Golden Corona’ Will Emerge From The Pacific
The “Great North American Eclipse” will actually begin at sunrise just north of Penryn Atoll in the Cook Islands and south of Starbuck Island (named after 19th-century whaler Valentine Starbuck) in Kiribati. Totality will last 2 minutes and 6 seconds from 16:38 Universal Time and feature a “golden corona” as the sun appears in the east. It will then cross over 4,000 miles of empty Pacific Ocean before it strikes Mexico’s Isla Socorro and, eventually, Islas Marias just south of Mazatlán.
6. It’s Caused By A ‘Supermoon’
On Monday, the new moon will be at the “point of greatest eclipse”—when it’s directly overhead, at its highest point in the sky—close to Nazas, Mexico. At that moment, it will be 221,767 miles (356,900 kilometers) from Earth, having been at perigee (its closest point to Earth in its slightly elliptical monthly orbit) a few hours earlier. It will, therefore, appear slightly larger than the sun and, therefore, be capable of covering 100% of its bright face. That makes it a “supermoon,” according to Timeanddate.
7. It’s Part Of History’s Greatest Ever Eclipse In 163 Years
Moon shadows come in families. Monday’s is part of what astronomers called Saros 139, an alignment that repeats every 18 years, 11 days, and 8 hours. Saros 139 will peak on July 16, 2186, when a totality of 7 minutes and 29 seconds will occur off Brazil. It will be the longest total solar eclipse that will ever occur, one second longer than on June 15, 743 B.C., off the coast of Kenya and Somalia in Africa.
8. ‘Eclipse Island’ Will Experience Totality
Captain James Cook observed a partial solar eclipse from an island near Burgeo, Newfoundland, on August 5, 1766. He recorded the exact times of the eclipse to help calculate his longitude while mapping the coast of Newfoundland aboard HMS Grenville—then named it “Eclipse Island.” On Monday, totality will begin here at 5:11 p.m. NDT and last for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. That last happened on March 7, 1970 and will next occur on May 1, 2079. Meanwhile, a town called “Eclipse” in Texas will see a 94% partial solar eclipse.
9. There’s A ‘Lucky Square’ In The Midwest
People in Perryville and Cape Girardeau in Missouri, Paducah in Kentucky and Carbondale, Du Quoin, Marion, Makanda, Harrisburg and Metropolis in Illinois are about to experience their second total solar eclipse just six years, seven months and 18 days after the last one. On average, totality comes to the same place once every 366 years, but on Monday, a quadrant covering about 32,400 square miles (52,200 square kilometers) will experience totality again, having already enjoyed it during the last “Great American Eclipse” on August 21, 2017.
10. It’s North America’s Longest Totality Since 1806
At 4 minutes 26 seconds at the Mexico-U.S. border in Texas, totality won’t have lasted as long in the U.S. since a total solar eclipse on June 16, 1806, when Salem, Massachusetts, experienced one for 4 minutes and 48 seconds. It’s most famous for being Tecumseh’s Eclipse and for what James Fenimore Cooper wrote after viewing it.
11. A ‘Devil Comet’ May Appear During Totality
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks—currently on its once-every-71-years visit to the inner solar system—will be about 25 degrees northwest of the sun at the time of totality, close to Jupiter. It’s known to brighten considerably, but it’s most likely only to be visible in long-exposure photographs.
12. Michigan And Tennessee (Just) Get Totally Eclipsed
You’ll read that the path of totality crosses through parts of 15 U.S. states. That’s true only because Michigan and Tennessee both receive the slightest glance of the edge of the moon’s shadow. Only the southeast corner of Michigan is in the path, with 1 minute 20 seconds at the exclave of Lost Peninsula Marina. A 2-minute and 7-second totality will be experienced in Tennessee’s northwest corner at Kentucky Bend/New Madrid Bend.
13. It Will Be The Last U.S. Total Solar Eclipse For A Decade—With Two More In 21 Years
After April 8, the next total solar eclipse to occur in the U.S. will be on March 30, 2033—just under a decade later—when a maximum of 2 minutes and 37 seconds of totality will visit Alaska. The next total solar eclipse in the contiguous U.S. is on August 23, 2044, when Montana and South Dakota experience totality close to sunset. That will be quickly followed by a coast-to-coast total solar eclipse on August 12, 2045, crossing parts of 12 U.S. states from California to Florida.
14. This Eclipse Will Repeat In 54 years And 33 days
On May 11, 2078, the same alignment that caused Monday’s eclipse will revisit North America. That day, a total solar eclipse will again cross Mexico and the U.S. (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia), bringing 5 minutes and 40 seconds of totality to the Gulf of Mexico. The coast of Louisiana and New Orleans will have the best views.
For basic 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.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.