NASA recently announced a total solar eclipse will take place on April 8 that will be visible to Americans across the country. The space agency explained that the eclipse will move across North America, traveling over Mexico, the U.S., and Canada.
“The Monday, April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The total solar eclipse will begin over the South Pacific Ocean. Weather permitting, the first location in continental North America that will experience totality is Mexico’s Pacific coast at around 11:07 a.m. PDT,” NASA said on its website.
The announcement continued, illustrating the course of the eclipse over North America. In the U.S., over a dozen states will be able to experience the total eclipse. “The path of the eclipse continues from Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Small parts of Tennessee and Michigan will also experience the total solar eclipse,” NASA continued.
After passing through America, the eclipse will then be viewable in a number of different Canadian locations. “The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Cape Breton. The eclipse will exit continental North America on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at 5:16 p.m. NDT,” the agency said.
Many are excited for the opportunity to view the mesmerizing sight of a total eclipse. The event has been held with high importance throughout human history, and many cultures have formed sacred traditions around eclipses. Some even regarded them as bad omens.
“So while religious tradition suggests that eclipses may be bad omens, it is also true that during the time of greatest darkness, the most profound light may emerge. And in the instant when earth is shrouded in shadow, that is when the deepest insights about God’s creation may be studied, however fleetingly,” Breitbart News’ Joel B. Pollak wrote.
According to NASA, a solar eclipse occurs when the Sun, the Moon, and Earth line up, either fully or partially. Depending on the alignment of the Sun and Moon, eclipses can provided an unique and exciting viewing experiences if proper eye protection is worn.
“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. This only happens occasionally, because the Moon doesn’t orbit in the exact same plane as the Sun and Earth do. The time when they are aligned is known as eclipse season, which happens twice a year,” NASA stated.
However, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration noted a total eclipse exclusively occurs when the Moon’s trajectory positions it to completely block out the the Sun. “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 will experience a total eclipse.”
Featured image credit: Luc Viatour, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_eclipse_1999_4.jpg
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