HOW TO WATCH THE GREAT AMERICAN ECLIPSE SAFELY … GET READY!
How to watch the Great American Eclipse on April 8, 2024 safely.
Plus a lot of great information on solar eclipses, as well as details you’ll want to know before you watch the Great American Eclipse.
That’s us! We had so much fun watching the 2017 total solar eclipse that we almost immediately began planning for the next one. It seemed like a long time away. And in some respects 2017 seems like an eternity ago, right?
But the day is almost here!
And we want to help you get ready because the Great American Eclipse of April 2024 is right around the corner.
You might remember the solar eclipse which occurred on August 21, 2017, whose path crossed 14 states in the U.S. Eclipse day was a lot of fun, with eclipse watch parties occurring along its narrow path of totality. Everyone came together to put on those goofy glasses and look up at the sky. It was a day to remember.
And guess what?
This year’s total solar eclipse will be even bigger! Both geographically and time-wise. While the 2017 eclipse lasted two minutes and 42 seconds, the path of totality for the solar eclipse in April 2024 will be much wider and the eclipse will last much longer.
In fact, all of North America will see at least a partial solar eclipse that day! This means even more people across the U.S. will be able to be a part of the fun! In anticipation of this astronomical event, I did a bit of eclipse research to discover how to watch the Great American Eclipse safely and how to make the most of the day. It’s amazing how much I’d forgotten in the last seven years about eclipses.
HOW TO WATCH THE GREAT AMERICAN ECLIPSE SAFELY
WHAT IS AN ECLIPSE? A BRIEF ECLIPSE PRIMER
At its most basic level, an eclipse is a gigantic shadow show. An eclipse occurs when the Earth, Moon and Sun line up just right. This alignment actually happens between four and seven times each year, depending on the year. The reason it doesn’t happen every month is because the moon’s orbit around the Earth is tilted, relative to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. There are two types of eclipses, lunar and solar. During a lunar eclipse, the Earth’s shadow obscures the Moon. During a solar eclipse, the Moon blocks the Sun from view. There are various types of lunar and solar eclipses.
WHAT ARE THE THREE TYPES OF LUNAR ECLIPSES?
After I refreshed my memory on the differences between a lunar and solar eclipse, I realized there were actually three types of lunar eclipses. These are total lunar eclipse, partial lunar eclipse and penumbral eclipse. Are you following all of this? I hope so. And here are the differences between these three types of lunar eclipses.
TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE
During a total lunar eclipse, the moon moves into the inner part of the Earth’s shadow, which is called the umbra. And these eclipses are the ones where the moon appears red. Here’s why … Some of the sunlight passing through Earth’s atmosphere reaches the Moon’s surface, lighting it dimly. Colors with shorter wavelengths (blues and violets) scatter more easily than colors with longer wavelengths (reds and oranges). Because these longer wavelengths make it through Earth’s atmosphere and the shorter wavelengths have scattered away, the Moon appears orangish or reddish during a lunar eclipse. The more dust or clouds in Earth’s atmosphere during the eclipse, the redder the Moon appears.
PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSE
An imperfect alignment of Sun, Earth and Moon results in the Moon passing through only part of Earth’s umbra. The shadow grows and then recedes without ever entirely covering the Moon.
PENUMBRAL ECLIPSE
First things first, what exactly is a “penumbra”? The penumbra is the outer part of the Earth’s shadow. So penumbral is an adjective. A penumbral eclipse is when the moon travels through the Earth’s penumbra. It dims the moon. And apparently, it can be so slight that it’s difficult to notice. In fact, if you don’t know a penumbral eclipse is happening, you’ll likely miss it completely. In fact, there was a penumbral eclipse at the end of March 2024. You probably didn’t hear anything about it.
WHEN DOES A SOLAR ECLIPSE OCCUR?
Solar eclipses occur when the Sun, the Moon and the Earth line up, either fully or partially. Depending on how they align, eclipses provide a unique, exciting view of either the Sun or the Moon. Solar eclipses happen when the Moon is between Earth and the Sun. During a solar eclipse, the Moon casts a shadow on Earth, and blocks or partially blocks our view of the Sun. Solar eclipses happen as often as lunar eclipses. But, they are only visible from a small area of the Earth each time. So it’s a much rarer occurrence to encounter one.
WHAT IS ECLIPSE SEASON?
Wait … what? There is an eclipse season? Why, yes there is! As I previously stated, a solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting a shadow on Earth that either fully or partially blocks the Sun’s light in some areas. Because the Moon doesn’t orbit in the exact same plane as the Sun and Earth do, this happens only occasionally. But the time when they are aligned is known as eclipse season, which happens twice a year.
WHAT ARE THE FOUR TYPES OF SOLAR ECLIPSES?
Keep following along for my science refresher. I think I really should have paid more attention to this lesson in grade school. But, we have the Internet now and I’ve done the research for you. Because I want you to know how to watch the Great American Eclipse.
ANNULAR SOLAR ECLIPSE
When the moon is at its farthest point from Earth and it passes between the Sun and the Earth, that’s when an annular eclipse occurs. Since the Moon is farther away from Earth, it appears smaller than the Sun and does not completely cover the Sun. As a result, the Moon appears as a dark disk on top of a larger, bright disk, creating what looks like a ring around the Moon, often called a ring of fire. The last annular solar eclipse took place on October 14, 2023.
PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE
A partial eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth but the Sun, Moon, and Earth are not perfectly lined up. Only a part of the Sun (the front of the sun) will appear to be covered, giving it a crescent shape. During a total or annular solar eclipse, people outside the area covered by the Moon’s inner shadow see a partial solar eclipse.
HYBRID SOLAR ECLIPSE
Because Earth’s surface is curved, sometimes an eclipse can shift between annular and total as the Moon’s shadow moves across the globe. This is called a hybrid solar eclipse.
TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE
A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. People located in the center of the Moon’s shadow when it hits Earth experience a total eclipse. The sky darkens, similar to dawn or dusk. If weather permits, those in the path of a total solar eclipse can see the Sun’s corona, which is its outer atmosphere and is usually hidden by the brightness of the Sun. This is the type of eclipse we will experience in the U.S. on April 8, 2024.
HOW LONG WILL THE GREAT AMERICAN ECLIPSE LAST?
The duration of totality for the 2024 eclipse will be about four and a half minutes (4 minutes and 27 seconds to be precise). This is almost double the minutes of totality of The Great American Eclipse of August 21, 2017. And while the 2017 total solar eclipse was witnessed by about 20 million people from Pacific Northwest to coastal Southeastern region of the U.S. The 2024 eclipse has more than 32 million people living within its path. So this eclipse truly lives up to the word great and is a not to be missed event!
WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO SEE THE 2024 ECLIPSE?
In 2017, we traveled a few hours from home to Mokane, Mo. which was on the line of totality. For the 2024 Great American Eclipse, cities inside the path of totality include San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth, Dallas, Little Rock, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Burlington. In addition, metropolitan areas such as St. Louis, Cincinnati, Detroit, Toronto, and Quebec are very close to the eclipse’s path. The list of major cities within the U.S. that are within 200 miles of the path of totality includes Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.
WHAT TIME WILL THE GREAT AMERICAN ECLIPSE START?
The eclipse will start a little after 12 p.m. CST in areas of Texas. It will move across the U.S. and finish around 2 p.m. EST in Pennsylvania, New York and parts of New England.
HOW TO WATCH THE GREAT AMERICAN ECLIPSE SAFELY?
The only way to ensure the safe viewing of the partially eclipsed sun is to wear a pair of 12312-2 complaint solar eclipse glasses. These solar glasses have special filters and are not the same as regular sunglasses. You need to keep the glasses on during the eclipse, except during the brief total phase of a total solar eclipse, when the Moon completely blocks the Sun’s bright face.
Again, it is not safe to look directly at the sun without specialized protective glasses. According to NASA (and they should know, right?), “viewing any part of the bright Sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the optics will instantly cause severe eye injury.” So as soon as you see even a little bit of the bright sun reappearing after totality, you should immediately put your eclipse gasses back on!
If you want to take pictures of the eclipse on your smart phone, you’ll need this special filter to optimize your phone’s camera lens. You’ll still need to wear your eclipse glasses, however. Place the filter over your phone’s camera lens. It will help you take some amazing shots of the eclipse that will allow you to truly capture the magic of the day!
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WHEN WILL THE NEXT TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE TAKE PLACE?
You really want to make the most of the Great American Eclipse on April 8, 2024. Why? Because the next total solar eclipse that can be seen from the continental U.S. won’t happen until August 23, 2044! That’s more than 20 years from now! And that’s a long time!
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