April 8 Solar Eclipse Thread

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

For any who are unaware, there will be a solar eclipse tomorrow, April 8 over significant parts of the US. The area in which it will be a total solar eclipse is shown on this map, and stretches through or very near major cities like Austin, Dallas, Little Rock, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cleveland, and Buffalo.




However, across the entirety of the rest of the continental USA you will also be able to see at least a partial eclipse, generally at least 40-60%:




Detailed zoomable map: https://nso.edu/for-public/eclipse-map-2024/


Times: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/total-solar-eclipse-time-path-map-2024-rcna146131

    Dallas: Partial eclipse begins at 12:23 p.m. CT and totality at 1:40 p.m. CT.
    Idabel, Oklahoma: Partial eclipse begins at 12:28 p.m. CT and totality at 1:45 p.m. CT.
    Little Rock, Arkansas: Partial eclipse begins at 12:33 p.m. CT and totality at 1:51 p.m. CT.
    Poplar Bluff, Missouri: Partial eclipse begins at 12:39 p.m. CT and totality at 1:56 p.m. CT.
    Paducah, Kentucky: Partial eclipse begins at 12:42 p.m. CT and totality at 2:00 p.m. CT.
    Carbondale, Illinois: Partial eclipse begins at 12:42 p.m. CT and totality at 1:59 p.m. CT.
    Evansville, Indiana: Partial eclipse begins at 12:45 p.m. CT and totality at 2:02 p.m. CT.
    Cleveland: Partial eclipse begins at 1:59 p.m. ET and totality at 3:13 p.m.
    Erie, Pennsylvania: Partial eclipse begins at 2:02 p.m. ET and totality at 3:16 p.m. ET.
    Buffalo, New York: Partial eclipse begins at 2:04 p.m. ET and totality at 3:18 p.m.
    Burlington, Vermont: Partial eclipse begins at 2:14 p.m. ET and totality at 3:26 p.m. ET.
    Lancaster, New Hampshire: Partial eclipse begins at 2:16 p.m. ET and totality at 3:27 p.m.
    Caribou, Maine: Partial eclipse begins at 2:22 p.m. ET and totality at 3:32 p.m. ET.

PBS Nova documentary:

Of course, it should go without saying, but do NOT look directly at the sun without appropriate protective glasses like Donald Trump previously did. Be smart and only do so if you have proper protective glasses, or you can permanently damage your retina:

[emailking]

On this map you can zoom in and click on your exact location to see when partiality begins/ends (and totality if you're that lucky) and when the partiality is maximum and how much of the sun will be covered. (obscuration)

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2024-april-8

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

You should not look directly at sun you go blind I don't care what special glasses you have

[emailking]

You should not look directly at sun you go blind I don't care what special glasses you have

yeah that's misinformation buddy. You should not look at the sun, even partially obscured, if you do not have eclipse glasses. But if you have eclipse glasses (ISO Certified 12312-2) you can look at the sun through those.

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

Enjoy the eclipse.

[emailking]

From 2015/7 here's a great video on eclipses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNH3akWXaV8

[ProudModerate2]

Enjoy the eclipse.

lol.
Unfortunately this could happen to many individuals between Texas and Illinois tomorrow.
(If not rain, just too many clouds that will block the event.)

[Progressive Pessimist]

I'll be at the DMV...

I had to abandon my plans to go to the Harkonnen stadium at that time.

[°Leprechaun]

I'll be in a suburb of Philadelphia.
The eclipse here starts around  2pm andends at around 4:30.
The darkest is at 3:23.
It is going to be at 90% at the darkest.

[Arizona Iced Tea]

It's ironic that Maine of all places is going to get clear skies, and Texas is getting bombarded by clouds. 2024 continues to surprise in weird ways.

[emailking]

This is better than the 2017 eclipse in a couple ways. The moon is larger in the sky relative to the sun so totality in the middle of the path lasts a few minutes longer, and the path of totality is wider which is why more populous cities are in the path. Also the sun is nearing a solar maximum so the corona & chromosphere will be more defined, during totality. Too bad the weather's not looking good in a lot of places. In 2017, when I saw totality, I changed plans at the last minute and went to a different part of the country and got clear skies (there was a thunderstorm during totality where I was originally going). This time I'm just going to take in the partial.

[°Leprechaun]

The fake news on SNL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixkww7puZ_I

This is hilarious. 

[Pheurton Skeurto]

me later today:

[Crumpets]

Conditions are looking pretty good here in DC. 88% coverage isn't totality, but a crescent sun will still be pretty cool - especially to mark the end of Ramadan.

[Penn_Quaker_Girl]

Mostly sunny skies here in Philly. Have a pair of eclipse glasses in my white coat pocket.  Should be able to slip out with a bunch of coworkers to see it!

[emailking]

New calculations have raised concerns popular eclipse maps might be off. Here’s what scientists say

If you’re planning to see the epic total solar eclipse that will dance across the skies of North America on Monday, you should aim to travel as close to the center of the celestial spectacle’s path as possible.

New map calculations have raised some concerns that the path of totality — where it’s possible to see the moon completely block out the sun — is slightly narrower than NASA calculated. That means some cities on the edge of the route that were expecting to experience a second or two of total darkness might be left out.

NASA has not changed its predictions, but the space agency advises that there is some uncertainty involved in mapping the eclipse’s path.

“Calculations that use a slightly larger radius for the size of the Sun yield an eclipse path that is slightly narrower,” said NASA spokesperson Karen Fox in an emailed statement. “This difference would only affect cities on the very edge of the path of totality, where blanket predictions are difficult regardless — a few city blocks one way or the other could mean 20, 10, or 0 seconds of totality.”

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/05/world/total-solar-eclipse-map-path-shift-scn/index.html

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

me later today:

You will go blind if you look directly at the sun, you can look at it now but you will go blind completely

[emailking]

Mexico is getting it right now.

Edit: nope I'm an hour ahead.

[Crumpets]

One of the things that strikes me most about solar eclipses is just how lucky Earth is to have a moon that is almost exactly the same apparent size from Earth as the sun is. Any smaller and you wouldn't get totality. Any bigger and you wouldn't get to see the corona or the solar flares. Plus it adds the drama of lasting at most only a few minutes and only hitting a certain area once or twice in a lifetime.

I'm pretty sure no other planet in the solar system experiences this, and even among all known planets (granted, moons are hard to detect) isn't exactly thought to be common.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

We have lunar eclipse as well and you can watch those the ones that you don't go blind over, I saw a full lunar eclipse

[emailking]

Yes our moon is the only moon we know of that can perfectly eclipse its star. It will stay like that for another 600 million to 1.5 billion years at which point only annular and partial eclipses will occur anymore on Earth. I've never heard an explanation why the size of the moon and sun in the sky are so close. Just a bizarre coincidence.

Edit: removed misleading statement about total eclipses on other planets.

[Electric Circus]

Walking to a good site where I will be settling in for viewing in just a few. Not too much traffic around so far, but much more than usual (including many of the first motorcycles of the year, the scourge of rural summers). Yesterday would have been perfect conditions for visibility, and today looks likely to be near perfect.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Partial eclipse has begun in Dallas.

[GAinDC]

I found my glasses from the 2017 eclipse, so I'm all set!

Last time, I was in Nashville and saw totality. This time, I'm in DC which will be about 90% totality. I'm actually looking forward to seeing the difference.

[Former Dean Phillips Supporters for Haley (I guess???!?) 👁️]

I found my glasses from the 2017 eclipse, so I'm all set!

Last time, I was in Nashville and saw totality. This time, I'm in DC which will be about 90% totality. I'm actually looking forward to seeing the difference.

WAIT. YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO RE-USE GLASSES, they lose their effectiveness over time.

I am not 100% sure HOW bad it is, but heard on the news saying that you should not re-use old ones.

So try to borrow temporarily some new ones from someone or something if you can get a friend to lend you a peek.