When is the eclipse? It’s time to get some solar eclipse glasses, learn how to take a photo with your smartphone and find someone to come with you to see one of the celestial highlights of many North Americans’ entire lives—a total solar eclipse.
Here’s exactly when and how to safely view Monday’s total and partial solar eclipse, where to stream it online, how to photograph it and everything else you need to know.
When Is The Solar Eclipse?
It will happen during the morning of Monday, April 8. However, exactly when it will occur—and what you will see and experience—will depend on your precise location. You can find the exact time of the eclipse for any place using the “eclipse lookup” option on Timeanddate. It will show you exactly when the eclipse will start and finish—and reveal whether you’ll see a total solar eclipse (from the path of totality) or a partial solar eclipse.
In the U.S., totality will begin in Texas at 1:27 pm CDT and end in Maine at 3:35 pm EDT.
Where Is The Total Solar Eclipse?
Although everyone in North America will see a partial solar eclipse, only those from within a narrow 115-mile path through parts of Mexico, 15 U.S. states and Canada will be able to experience totality.
This path of totality is the area on Earth where the moon completely blocks the sun during the total solar eclipse. If you’re not within the path of totality, you’ll only see a partial solar eclipse.
The path of totality will cross parts of five states in Mexico (Sinaloa, Nayarit, Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua), 15 U.S. states (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee (northwest corner), Michigan (southeast corner), Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine) and six Canadian Provinces (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland).
Wherever you plan to go, presume there will be crowds—and get to your viewing location well before the start of the partial eclipse.
These maps will help:
Where Will The Best Weather Be?
History tells us that the best chance of a clear sky is in Mexico, then Texas, and reducing as the path of totality tracks southwest to northeast. However, do not lose hope—even if the three-day weather forecast is not looking good because clouds can clear during an eclipse. Get to the path of totality regardless of weather. Besides, if it’s cloudy during the eclipse, you may miss out on seeing the sun’s corona, but you will experience light levels dropping 10,000 times in the last few seconds before totality,
How To View The Solar Eclipse Safely—And Buy Safe Glasses
Everyone will need to use solar eclipse glasses, which cost about $2 and rise as the eclipse comes closer. You can buy them from major stores, science museums and planetariums. If you’re heading to an eclipse observing event, you will almost certainly have a chance to buy some eclipse glasses. You can easily share some with several others.
If you want to make sure your eclipse glasses are safe and to avoid counterfeit products, buy a brand on the American Astronomical Society’s vetted list of Suppliers of Safe Solar Filters & Viewers, all of which use products that adhere to the ISO 12312-2 international standard. Major U.S. brands include American Paper Optics, Rainbow Symphony and Thousand Oaks Optical.
How To Use Solar Eclipse Glasses Safely
Many people put solar eclipse glasses on their faces and strain their necks to look at the sky, trying to locate the eclipsed sun. It’s not easy because the sun only occupies half a degree of the sky.
Here’s how to wear solar eclipse glasses:
- Stand and face the sun with your eyes turned to the ground.
- Bring the solar eclipse glasses to your face and secure them.
- Raise your neck to look at the sun directly in front or above you.
- You’ll find a few pre-made scores in the cardboard between the frames and the arms so that you can alter the width.
- You can safely hold eclipse glasses over prescription glasses—but not vice versa.
Here’s what you should NEVER use to look at the sun at any time, including the partial phases of a solar eclipse: sunglasses, two pairs of sunglasses, welder’s glass, smoked glass, exposed film, medical x-rays, DVDs and homemade filters. Use certified safe eclipse glasses and viewers only.
How To Photograph The Partial Solar Eclipse With A Smartphone
Although it will only get you a basic shot of the eclipse, try placing the lens of a pair of solar eclipse glasses in front of your smartphone’s camera. Your shot will be of basic quality but hugely improved if you put your smartphone on a tripod or support it. Setting a short shutter delay to overcome vibrations as you touch the shutter button is also a good idea.
The best solar eclipse photos using a smartphone are typically of people watching the eclipse—and of the beautiful “crescent sun” projections on the ground and on walls projected through trees or colanders.
How To Photograph The Total Solar Eclipse With A Smartphone
If you’re lucky enough to be inside the path of totality, you can use focus-lock on your smartphone to capture the perfect image. Here’s what to do:
- Switch off your flash—or, better still, put some black tape across the flash so it can’t go off and annoy everyone around you.
- Use raw mode if your phone has it.
- Go wide-angle—as wide as possible—because the sun will be relatively high in the sky.
- When the light level drops just before totality, focus on something in the middle distance, do a long press to lock that focus, then move the brightness slider down a bit.
- Take a few photos, concentrating on composition.
If you’re standing with someone watching the eclipse, take a couple of steps back and get them in silhouette watching the eclipse—a photo they will treasure forever!
How To Find A Last-Minute Eclipse Event
Your best bet is to use one of these three websites to identify a place that may still have tickets/spaces:
A great idea at this stage is to swerve big cities and head for small community events in a rural area.
NASA Events For The Total Solar Eclipse
NASA TV will be live streaming the eclipse from across the U.S. with confirmed plans to broadcast from the Kerrville Eclipse Festival in Kerrville, Texas, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana, the Southern Illinois Crossroads Eclipse Festival in Carbondale, Illinois and from Total Eclipse Fest 2024 in Cleveland, Ohio.
NASA is also supporting a much larger network of events.
How To Avoid Traffic
Between one and four million people could travel into the path of totality on April 8, leading to clogged highways and parking lots. However, you can avoid getting stuck in traffic in a few ways. If you live inside the path of totality, you can resist the temptation to drive to another location and watch it from your backyard. Ideally, visitors should try to arrive at the location a day before the eclipse and leave the day after.
Alternatively, get to your destination extremely early on April 8 and plan to leave very late. The post-eclipse traffic will be much worse (you could even consider trying for a hotel room after the eclipse). Either way, use real-time traffic reports and head to your destination off the beaten track—avoiding hotspots and generally doing the opposite to everyone else will help you avoid traffic.
Where To Live Stream The Total Solar Eclipse
Whether it’s bad weather or because you want to see the totally eclipsed sun from outside the path, the solar eclipse will be live-streamed on YouTube by:
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.
