by For years, small groups of astronomy enthusiasts have traveled the globe in search of the rare solar eclipse. They went on trips to the middle of the ocean, took flights into the path of the eclipse and even traveled to Antarctica.
In August 2017, millions across the U.S. witnessed a total solar eclipse visible from Oregon to South Carolina, with a partial eclipse visible in the rest of the continental U.S. On April 8, 2024, millions of Americans will once again be on the road . total solar eclipse, this person’s path stretches from Mexico to eastern Canada.
The total path of the April 2024 eclipse will cross several US cities, including Austin and Dallas in Texas, Indianapolis in Indiana, Cleveland and Dayton in Ohio, Erie in Pennsylvania, and Buffalo and Rochester in New York. The eclipse will begin in Texas around 2:30 Eastern time and end in Maine around 4:30 Eastern time.
But astrotourism – traveling to national parks, observatories or other natural locations in the dark sky to witness astronomical events – is not limited to the pursuit of eclipses.
According to a recent study, 80% of Americans and one-third of the planet’s population cannot see the Milky Way from their homes due to light pollution. As a result, most people have to travel to meteor showers and other common astronomical events.
I am a space scientist with a passion for teaching physics and astronomy and photographing the night sky. Every summer I spend several nights backpacking in the Sierra Nevada, California, where the skies are dark enough to see the Milky Way with the naked eye. My son and I like to take road trips—often along US Route 395, the Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway—that coincide with eclipses and meteor showers.
Astronomical events are not to be missed
There are two types of eclipses. Lunar eclipses occur when the full moon passes through the Earth’s shadow. Solar eclipses occur when the new moon briefly blocks the Sun.
There are three types of solar eclipses. During a total eclipse, the Moon completely covers the Sun, and totality lasts as long as seven minutes. During totality, those in the path of the eclipse will see the Sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, behind the Moon’s silhouette.
The Moon’s orbit around the Earth is an ellipse, so the Moon appears to be 15% smaller when it is at its furthest point from Earth, its apogee, compared to its size when it is at its closest point to Earth , a perigee. An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon does not cover the entire disk of the Sun, leaving a ring of sunlight around the Moon.
Finally, a partial eclipse occurs when the Moon only blocks part of the Sun’s disk, as the name suggests.
Meteor showers are a far more common astronomical event than eclipses, and are visible from anywhere in the dark sky on Earth. Meteor showers occur when the Earth’s orbit around the Sun lifts it through the dust left behind by a comet. The Earth sweeps up the dust like a car speeding through a cloud of insects on the highway.
Meteor showers are named for the constellations from which the meteors originate, although it is not necessary to stay in that direction to see meteors. The most significant meteor showers, which occur around the same dates each year, are the Lyrids, named for the constellation Lyra, on April 21-22; the Perseids, named after the constellation Perseus and peaking on the night of August 12-13; and the Geminis, named for the Gemini constellation, on December 14-15. The night sky will be mostly moonless for the first two this year, but the 2024 Lyrid shower will be difficult to see due to a nearly full moon.
Tips for would-be astronauts
One of the most important factors to consider when planning a stargazing trip or to see a meteor shower is the phase of the moon. The full moon rises at about 6 pm and sets at 6 am, making it impossible to see the stars due to its brightness. For ideal stargazing conditions, the Moon should be below the horizon, and the best viewing conditions are during a new moon. You can use a moonrise/moonset calculator to determine the moon’s phase and rise and set times for any location on Earth.
Another important factor is the weather. Amateur astronomers always joke that the sky is cloudy during the most interesting astronomical events. For example, most major cities in the United States were in the path of the April 2024 eclipse on April 8 60% of the time since 2000.
Most Americans live in heavily polluted areas. A light pollution map like lightpollutionmap.info can help identify the nearest dark sky location, which, in my case, is hours away. These maps often use the Bortle dark sky scale, which reports from 1 for dark sky to 9 for a heavily light polluted inner city.
Although you may still see the brightest meteors from the suburbs of the city, the darker the sky, the more meteors you will see. In general, expect to see fewer than 25 meteors per hour. To see the complex structure of the Milky Way with the naked eye, look for a location with a Bortle index of 3 or less.
It is important that you arrive at your chosen location early, preferably during daylight hours. Fumbling around in the dark on an unfamiliar site is a recipe for disaster and may disturb others already on the site. When you arrive early it will be time for your eyes to adapt to the dark as night falls, as it usually takes 30 minutes or even longer for your eyes to reach their full dark-adapted potential. achieve.
Be sure to carry a headlamp or flashlight with a red light setting, as red light does not destroy night vision. Avoid using your phone, as even a glance at the screen can ruin your eyes’ dark adaptation. If you are using a skyview app, switch the app to night mode.
If you’re in the path of the April 2024 eclipse, stay tuned. If you’re traveling, staying in the same place overnight before and after the eclipse can help avoid the occasional traffic jams experienced by eclipse watchers in 2017.
Also, you should not look directly at the Sun with the naked eye, even during a total eclipse. You’ll need a pair of free eclipse glasses to view and fully enjoy the eclipse, but get yours soon, as many stores ran out of glasses during the 2017 eclipse.
No matter where you travel, don’t forget to look up at night and marvel at the beauty of the night sky, away from the city lights.
This is an updated version of an article originally published on 5 July 2023.
This article is republished from The Conversation, a non-profit, independent news organization that brings you reliable facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Vahe Peroomian, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Vahe Peroomian has received funding in the past from NASA and the National Science Foundation. 2014 was the last year of funding.
