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On April 8 , atotal solar occultation will be visible from portion of North Americafor the first time since 2017 and for the last time until 2033 .
To experience totality — darkness in the daytime and the fortune to look at the sun ’s fiery outer atmosphere , or corona , with naked eyes — you must be within the 115 - mile - wide ( 185 kilometers ) , 10,000 - mile - long ( 16,000 km ) path of totality .
The path of the moon’s shadow during the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse.
But you may be wondering a few things : What is the path of total , how does it work , and where should you go for the skillful view ?
What is the path of totality?
Simply put , the path of totality is the synodic month ’s moving shadow . cause by the moon ’s umbra — its dark , conoid - shaped cardinal phantasm — the path of sum will foil parts of Mexico , the U.S. and Canada on April 8 , including the follow states and provinces :
" The Sun Myung Moon always has a shadow — there ’s always an eclipse out there somewhere — but we have to wait for it to scrape across the Earth to see an eclipse,“solar eclipsetracker Dan McGlaun , founder ofEclipse2024.org , secernate Live Science . " If you ’re in that shadow at a sure time , you ’ll see entireness . " ( McGlaun created aninteractive mapping and eclipse simulatorto show what thousands of communities in North America can expect to see during the upcoming eclipse . )
How to find the best spot on the path
On April 8 , the moonshine ’s umbra will move from southwest to northeast . This is due to the angle of Earth ’s tilted axis , but also because the lunar month orbits from west to east faster than Earth rotates . Meanwhile , the path ’s width results from the exact space of the moon from Earth .
Related : April 8 total solar occultation : The best position to woolgather near the path of entirety
The specific positioning within the path of sum define how long totality lasts there . " The closer you are to the center , the more continuance you get because the dark is round , " McGlaun said . " Totality gets little towards the way ’s edges , and it ’s zero the right way on the border . "
Map of solar eclipses over North America in 2023-2024. The April 8, 2024 path of totality runs diagonally from the southwest to the northeast.
However , where you are along the path of integrality also relieve oneself a difference of opinion ; the maximum possible duration of totality on April 8 is 4 minutes , 28 seconds , which will occur in Nazas , Mexico . ( Here ’s how long totality will last in10 major cities in the path of the eclipse . )
" Earth is rotund , so when [ the Sun Myung Moon ’s shadow ] score the middle part that come out out , it ’s closer to the synodic month , " McGlaun said . This is where the shadow make a motion at its ho-hum and where the path of totality is at its wide . " When it hits the edges of the Earth , the moon is farthest away — just [ by ] a few thousand miles — but that ’s enough to make a dispute because the shadow is a cone shape , " McGlaun supply .
— April 8 full solar eclipse : The best places to dream near the path of totality
— April 8 solar eclipse : 4 telescopes and observatories where you’re able to check totality
— These eclipse - theme places will experience totality on April 8 , 2024
However , the serious property to be on April 8 is more complex . " Get anywhere in the path on eclipse Clarence Day , " McGlaun said , but instead of obsessing about being secretive to the centerline , there ’s something else you ask to believe about if you want to see the sun ’s Saint Elmo’s fire during totality . " Anywhere in the path where there ’s percipient weather is the best home to be , " he say .
