by Credit – Performance by TIME
A The total solar eclipse will sweep across North America on Monday, April 8, offering spectacles to thousands of people who live in its path and others who will travel to see it.
A solar eclipse occurs during the new moon phase, when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, casting a shadow on the Earth and blocking our view of the sun in whole or in part. Although an average of two solar eclipses occur each year, a certain spot on Earth only occurs in the path of totality every 375 years on average, Astrology reported.
“Eclipses themselves are not rare, just an eclipse in your house is rare,” John Gianforte, director of the University of New Hampshire Observatory, tells AM AM. If you stay in your hometown, you may never see one, but if you are willing to travel, you can witness many. Gianforte has seen five eclipses and plans to travel to Texas this year, where the weather prospects are better.
One fun part of the eclipse experience is watching the people around you. “They can yell, scream, cry, hug each other, and that’s because it’s a really beautiful event,” notes Gianforte, who also serves as an associate professor of space education extension. “Everyone should see at least one in their life, because they are so amazing. They are natural events that evoke emotions.”
Here are 10 surprising facts about the science behind the phenomenon, what makes the 2024 solar eclipse unique, and what to expect.
The total eclipse begins in the Pacific Ocean and ends in the Atlantic
The darkest, innermost shadow the moon casts is the umbra, where you see a rarer total eclipse. The second, lighter, outer shadow is called the penumbra, under which you will see a partial eclipse visible in more places.
The total eclipse begins at 12:39 pm Eastern Time, just over 620 miles south of the Pacific Republic of Kiribati, according to Astrology. The umbra remains in contact with the Earth’s surface for three hours and 16 minutes until 3:55 pm when it ends in the Atlantic Ocean, about 340 miles southwest of Ireland.
The umbra enters the United States at the Mexican border just south of Eagle Pass, Texas, and leaves just north of Houlton, Maine, with an hour and eight minutes between entry and departure, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration says (NASA) TIME in the. email.
Mexico will see the longest totality during the eclipse
The longest totality will stretch for four minutes and 28 seconds in a 350-mile-long swath near the eclipse’s centerline, including west of Torreón, Mexico, according to NASA.
In the United States, some areas of Texas will catch almost as long. For example, in Fredericksburg, the total will last four minutes and 23 seconds – and it gets a little longer if you travel west, the TIME agency tells. Most places along the center line will see totality lasting between three and a half to four minutes.
There are more people living in the path of totality right now compared to the last eclipse
About 31.6 million people live in the path of totality for the 2024 solar eclipse, compared to 12 million during the last solar eclipse that crossed the US in 2017, according to NASA.
The path of totality is much wider than in 2017, and this year’s eclipse is passing over more cities and densely populated areas than last time.
A part of the sun that is usually hidden will reveal itself
Solar eclipses allow a view of the sun’s corona – the outermost atmosphere of the star that is not normally visible to humans due to the sun’s brightness.
The corona consists of bright white streams of plasma-charged gas – radiating from the sun. The corona is much hotter than the sun’s surface—about 1 million degrees Celsius (1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit) compared to 5,500 degrees Celsius (9,940 degrees Fahrenheit).
The sun near its solar maximum will be more dramatic
During the 2024 eclipse, the sun will be near “solar maximum.” This is the most active phase of a roughly 11-year solar cycle, which can lead to more significant and obvious solar activity, Gianforte tells TIME.
“We are in a very active state under the sun, which makes eclipses more exciting, and [means there is] more to look forward to during the total phase of the eclipse,” he explains.
People should look for an extended, active corona with more spikes and maybe some curls, looking out for bright, pink bursts of plasma that jump off the sun’s surface and pull back the sun’s magnetic field, and streamers at fall out the sun.
Streamers are a beautiful pink shade of pink, and silhouetted against the black, new moon crossing the sun’s disc, it makes them stand out really well. So it’s really just a beautiful sight to look up at the setting sun,” says Gianforte.
