April 8 Total Solar Eclipse - Sky Watcher Special Edition
On Monday April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will be visible in some parts of Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The entire United States will be able to see at least a partial eclipse on this day.
Here is a special edition of Sky Watcher to help you prepare for the upcoming eclipse and share information on how to view the eclipse safely!
2024 Eclipse Maps
Caption: Map of the total solar eclipse across America on April 8, 2024. CLICK HERE for a larger view!
While those of us in mid-Missouri will not get to experience a total eclipse like 2017, many will travel to southeastern Missouri to be in the path of totality. The path of totality will pass over Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff, Farmington, West Plains, and many more cities in the Missouri bootheel.
Caption: Map of the April 8 eclipse across Missouri. CLICK HERE to learn more at the Great American Eclipse website!
2017 vs. 2024 Eclipse
Many people were lucky to see totality during the 2017 total solar eclipse. But how do these paths compare?
The 2017 eclipse moved from northwestern corner of the United States in a southeastern direction, from Oregon to South Carolina. During the upcoming eclipse, the Moon’s shadow will enter the Pacific coast of Mexico and head northeast into the United States through Texas, and finally exit into the Atlantic over the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
Caption: Map of the continental United States comparing the 2017 and 2024 total solar eclipse paths. (Image Credit: Ernie Wright/NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio).
Eclipse Viewing: Safety Tips
Eclipse viewing should always be done with certified solar filters or solar glasses, with the exception of the brief totality period. Here in mid-MO, there will be no totality, which means NO ONE should be looking directly at the sun without proper protection! Here are some safe solar viewing options:
Solar viewing glasses - also known as “eclipse glasses,” these are glasses with special solar filters as lenses. Regular sunglasses, no matter how dark or polarized, are not safe for viewing the Sun.
Binocular or Telescope filters - There are filters for telescopes and binoculars specially made for viewing the Sun. DO NOT use eclipse glasses or viewers along with a telescope or binoculars. These tools require their own special solar filters due to magnifying properties.
Indirect viewing methods - To view the eclipse directly, consider creating your own DIY box solar viewer or pin hole camera.
Citizen Science: Eclipse Research Projects
The Sun’s corona – its outermost atmosphere – writhes and twists and throws off plumes of hot plasma. Measuring the motion of these plumes could help scientists understand the nature of the corona: what makes it so hot, and how it creates space weather. But these plumes can only be directly observed during an eclipse. Volunteer for Eclipse Megamovie 2024, and this April, you can help scientists answer persistent questions about the Sun’s corona and its plasma plumes.
The Eclipse Soundscapes Project is a NASA Citizen Science project funded by NASA Science Activation that is studying how eclipses affect life on Earth during the October 14, 2023 annular solar eclipse and the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse. Eclipse Soundscapes will revisit an eclipse study from almost 100 years ago that showed that animals and insects are affected by solar eclipses! Like this study from 100 years ago, ES will ask for the public’s help. ES will also use modern technology to continue to study how solar eclipses affect life on Earth!
The SunSketcher project hopes to involve millions of volunteers that will be located near the eclipse centerline on April 8. Anyone can use our free app, which is preprogrammed to take a series of photographs of the Bailys Beads at the times of second and third contacts. Each smartphone observation will make a unique contribution to the database that will be analyzed to measure the shape of the Sun.
