Monday, April 8th, a total solar eclipse will pass over North America, from Mexico, across the United States, and into Canada.
The path of totality, meaning, the area where, from earth, the sun will be fully eclipsed by the moon, crosses the south central to northeast portion of the states, specifically from Del Rio Texas, into the southeastern tip of Oklahoma, diagonally across Arkansas, passing over the southeastern tip of Missouri, the southern part of Illinois, the westernmost mountains of Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania, New York state near the great lakes, the top parts of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
While not inside the path of totality, a partial solar eclipse will be visible right here on the north coast– cloud cover permitting.
Our area will see around one quarter of the sun obscured by the moon.
In a solar eclipse, the moon passes between the earth and the sun, creating a localized shadow on earth. the 2023 eclipse we saw back in October 20-23 was an annular eclipse, where the sun is not exactly completely obscured by the moon, leaving a “ring of fire” around the edge, where the sun’s corona is visible. during that eclipse, our area saw almost 90 percent of the sun blocked by the moon.
This eclipse will be a total solar eclipse, meaning in parts of the path of totality, no light from the sun will be visible in the localized shadow, for around three entire minutes, though the entire event will last hours.
The eclipse will begin in our area just after 10:20 a.m. And end around 3 hours later, just after 12:15 pm.
Though the eclipse is not “full” here, it is sure to still be a spectacle in the sky. in order to safely view it, pick up a pair of eclipse glasses. If you can’t find those, make a pinhole projector.
It’s easy. all you need is a cardboard box, scissors, a pen, foil, tape and white paper.
Trace or fold paper to fit the bottom of the inside of the box. tape it down.
Cut two squares into the sides of the top of the box.
Cover the one side with aluminum foil and tape it shut.
Make a pinhole prick on one side, and a viewing space on the other and you should be able to see the shadow of the moon eclipsing the sun.
Stand with the sun behind you and look inside. Recycle all of these elements.
