Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024

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Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024
Map
Type of eclipse
NatureTotal
Gamma0.3431
Magnitude1.0566
Maximum eclipse
Duration268 s (4 min 28 s)
LocationNazas, Durango, Mexico
Coordinates25°18′N 104°06′W / 25.3°N 104.1°W / 25.3; -104.1
Max. width of band198 km (123 mi)
Times (UTC)
(P1) Partial begin15:42:07
(U1) Total begin16:38:44
Greatest eclipse18:18:29
(U4) Total end19:55:29
(P4) Partial end20:52:14
References
Saros139 (30 of 71)
Catalog # (SE5000)9561

A total solar eclipse will take place at the Moon's ascending node on Monday, April 8, 2024, visible across North America and dubbed the Great North American Eclipse (also Great American Total Solar Eclipse and Great American Eclipse) by some of the media.[1][2][3] A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs only in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide.

Occurring only one day after perigee (perigee on Sunday, April 7, 2024), the Moon's apparent diameter will be 5.5% larger than average. With a magnitude of 1.0566, its longest duration of totality will be of four minutes and 28.13 seconds near the Mexican town of Nazas, Durango, (~6 km north), and the nearby city of Torreón, Coahuila.

This eclipse will be the first total solar eclipse to be visible in the provinces of Canada since February 26, 1979,[4][5] the first in Mexico since July 11, 1991,[6] and the first in the U.S. since August 21, 2017. It will be the only total solar eclipse in the 21st century where totality will be visible in Mexico, the United States, and Canada.[7] It will also be the last total solar eclipse visible in the Contiguous United States until August 23, 2044.

The final solar eclipse of the year will occur six months later, on October 2, 2024.

Visibility[edit]

Animation of path

The totality of the solar eclipse will be visible in a narrow strip on the Pacific Ocean passing 200 nm north of the Marquesas Islands and later in North America, beginning at the Pacific coast, then ascending in a northeasterly direction through Mexico, the United States, and Canada, before ending in the Atlantic Ocean.

Mexico[edit]

In Mexico, totality will pass through the states of Sinaloa (including Mazatlán), Durango (including the city of Durango and Gómez Palacio) and Coahuila (including Torreón, Matamoros, Monclova, Sabinas, Ciudad Acuña and Piedras Negras).

United States[edit]

In the United States, totality will be visible through the states of Texas (including parts of San Antonio, Austin, and Fort Worth and all of Arlington, Dallas, Killeen, Temple, Texarkana, Tyler, Sulphur Springs and Waco), Oklahoma, Arkansas (including Morrilton/Petit Jean, Hot Springs, Searcy, Jonesboro, and Little Rock), Missouri, Tennessee (extreme northwestern corner of Lake County), Illinois (including Carbondale, where it intersects the path of the 2017 eclipse), Kentucky, Indiana (including Bloomington, Evansville, Indianapolis, Anderson, Muncie, Terre Haute, and Vincennes), Ohio (including Akron, Dayton, Lima, Roundhead, Toledo, Oak Harbor, Cleveland, Warren, Newton Falls and Austintown), Michigan (extreme southeastern corner of Monroe County), Pennsylvania (including Erie), Upstate New York (including Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Rochester, Syracuse, the Adirondacks, Potsdam, and Plattsburgh), and northern Vermont (including Burlington), New Hampshire, and Maine,[8][9] with the line of totality going almost directly over the state's highest point Mount Katahdin.[citation needed] The largest city entirely in the path will be Dallas, Texas. It will be the second total eclipse visible from the central United States in just 7 years, after the eclipse of August 21, 2017 (see "Related Eclipses", below). Totality will pass through the town of Wapakoneta, Ohio, home of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon. This will be the last total solar eclipse visible in the contiguous United States until August 23, 2044.

A partial solar eclipse will be visible in all of the other parts of the contiguous United States. As for Alaska, it will be visible only in Southeast Alaska (Alaska Panhandle).

Canada[edit]

In Canada, the path of totality will pass over parts of Southern Ontario (including Leamington, Hamilton, Niagara Falls, Kingston, Prince Edward County, and Cornwall), parts of southern Quebec (including Montreal, Sherbrooke, Saint-Georges and Lac-Mégantic), central New Brunswick (including Fredericton and Miramichi),[10] western Prince Edward Island (including Tignish and Summerside),[11] the northern tip of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia,[12] and central Newfoundland (including Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor). Then, it will vanish on the eastern Atlantic coast of Newfoundland. Some of the Canadian cities listed, such as Hamilton and Montreal, are on an edge of the path of totality. Windsor, London, Toronto and Ottawa lie just north of the path of totality, and Moncton lies just south of it.

A partial solar eclipse will be visible in all of the other parts of Canada, except the western part of Yukon and the western tip of the Northwest Territories.

Europe[edit]

The eclipse will be partially seen in Svalbard (Norway), Iceland, Ireland, western parts of Great Britain, north-west parts of Spain and Portugal, the Azores and Canary Islands.[13] Unusually, this eclipse extends below the horizon, where the greatest phase is to be observed at mid-nautical twilight in Galicia (Spain) and the beginning of astronomical twilight in Nouvelle-Aquitaine (France).[14] The extension of the eclipse path within the twilight zone will create probably the best observation window for the 12P/Pons-Brooks comet located closely to Jupiter.[15]

Central America and South America[edit]

The eclipse will be partially seen in all Central American countries, from Belize to Panama, all the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico and Jamaica), and northern South America (Colombia).

Oceania[edit]

The eclipse will be partially seen in Hawaii, eastern Kiribati (eastern Phoenix Islands and the whole Line Islands), Tokelau, American Samoa except its extreme western part, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Pitcairn Islands. Although all located east of the 180th meridian, the local time of the partial eclipse in Kiribati and Tokelau is Tuesday, April 9, 2024 because either UTC+13 or UTC+14 is observed in these areas.

Cloud-cover prospects along the path[edit]

April is a month of changeable weather along the eclipse path. Over Mexico and the southern United States, afternoon convective buildups are a common part of the climate, while northern regions are still immersed in late winter and early spring weather, with passing low-pressure disturbances that can bring rain, snow, or anything in between. Of all of the elements important to eclipse viewing, eclipse-day cloud cover is likely the most important unless severe storms are present across the south, or spring storms with blizzard-like conditions are passing in the north. In general, the cloud pattern is fairly simple: lowest average cloud amounts are found in the south, particularly in Mexico, while the greatest amounts are found in the northeastern United States and Canada.[16]

Satellite-measured cloud cover averages between 25 and 35 percent along the axis of the eclipse track from Mazatlán, Sinaloa, to Torreón, Coahuila, and then begins a steady increase, rising above 50 percent along the U.S.-Mexico border. At Carbondale, Illinois, where the 2024 track crosses that of the 2017 eclipse, average cloudiness has risen to 60 percent before cresting at 75 percent in western Ohio. Due to the influence of lakes Erie and Ontario, cloud cover along the eclipse central line declines to between 60 and 65 percent through Cleveland, OH, Buffalo, NY, and Rochester, NY. Through Vermont, Quebec, Maine, and New Brunswick, April cloudiness climbs to a maximum of 80 percent or more, before declining by about 15 percent along the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The community of Tignish, Prince Edward Island, enjoys the best cloud-cover prospects in the northeast due to its exposure to the Gulf, with average monthly amounts falling back to 65 percent. Farther across the Gulf of St. Lawrence, April cloudiness climbs again. Newfoundland, standing in the path followed most often by April storms, sees an average monthly cloud cover that peaks between 80 and 85 percent.

Graph of average April cloud cover along the eclipse path.
Graph of average fractional April cloud cover along the central axis of the 2024 total eclipse path derived from 21 years of daytime polar-orbiting-satellite observations. Fractional values can be treated as percentages. Data: CM-SAF, EUMETSAT.

Maps of average cloud cover identify a few locations off the central axis of the eclipse where cloud cover is more favorable to the eclipse traveler. The western side of the track through Texas has sunnier skies than those on the eastern side. The same is true in Arkansas and Missouri, where average April cloud cover can be as much as 20 percent lower than on the east side, around Jonesboro. Through New York, Vermont, and Maine, heavier cloud tends to favor higher terrain, though the differences across the shadow path are not large, as these states already have a large average cloud cover in springtime.

Delta Air Lines has scheduled a special eclipse-following flight from Austin to Detroit on a large-window A220-300, and various other flights in the path of totality will also avoid cloud cover entirely.[17]

Related eclipses[edit]

The path of this eclipse will cross the path of the prior total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, with the intersection of the two paths being in southern Illinois, in Makanda, just south of Carbondale.[18] The cities of Benton, Carbondale, Chester, Harrisburg, Marion, and Metropolis in Illinois; Cape Girardeau, Farmington, and Perryville in Missouri, as well as Paducah, Kentucky, will be within a roughly 9,000-square-mile (23,000 km2) intersection of the paths of totality of both the 2017 and 2024 eclipses.

Eclipses of 2024[edit]

Solar eclipses 2022–2025[edit]

This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.[19]

Solar eclipse series sets from 2022 to 2025
Ascending node   Descending node
Saros Map Gamma Saros Map Gamma
119

Partial from CTIO, Chile
2022 April 30

Partial
−1.19008 124

Partial from Saratov, Russia
2022 October 25

Partial
1.07014
129

Total from
East Timor
2023 April 20

Hybrid
−0.39515 134

Annular from
Campeche, Mexico
2023 October 14

Annular
0.37534
139 2024 April 8

Total
0.34314 144 2024 October 2

Annular
−0.35087
149 2025 March 29

Partial
1.04053 154 2025 September 21

Partial
−1.06509

Saros 139[edit]

It is a part of saros series 139, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, 8 hours, containing 71 events. The series started with partial solar eclipse on May 17, 1501. It contains hybrid eclipses on August 11, 1627 through to December 9, 1825 and total eclipses from December 21, 1843 through to March 26, 2601. The series ends at member 71 as a partial eclipse on July 3, 2763. Its eclipses are entabulated in three columns; each one in the same column, every third eclipse, is one exeligmos apart so cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.

The solar eclipse of June 13, 2132 will be the longest total solar eclipse since July 11, 1991 at 6 minutes, 55.02 seconds.

The longest duration of totality will be produced by member 39 at 7 minutes, 29.22 seconds on July 16, 2186.[20] After that date each duration will decrease, until the series end. This date is the longest solar eclipse computed between 4000 BC and 6000 AD.[21] Saros series eclipses are during the Moon’s ascending node (a term related to our equator and polar-naming conventions).

Series members 24–45 occur between 1901 and 2300
24 25 26

February 3, 1916

February 14, 1934

February 25, 1952
27 28 29

March 7, 1970

March 18, 1988

March 29, 2006
30 31 32

April 8, 2024

April 20, 2042

April 30, 2060
33 34 35

May 11, 2078

May 22, 2096

June 3, 2114
36 37 38

June 13, 2132

June 25, 2150

July 5, 2168
39 40 41

July 16, 2186

July 27, 2204

August 8, 2222
42 43 44

August 18, 2240

August 29, 2258

September 9, 2276
45

September 20, 2294

Tritos series[edit]

This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.

Series members between 1801 and 2100

December 21, 1805
(Saros 119)

November 19, 1816
(Saros 120)

October 20, 1827
(Saros 121)

September 18, 1838
(Saros 122)

August 18, 1849
(Saros 123)

July 18, 1860
(Saros 124)

June 18, 1871
(Saros 125)

May 17, 1882
(Saros 126)

April 16, 1893
(Saros 127)

March 17, 1904
(Saros 128)

February 14, 1915
(Saros 129)

January 14, 1926
(Saros 130)

December 13, 1936
(Saros 131)

November 12, 1947
(Saros 132)

October 12, 1958
(Saros 133)

September 11, 1969
(Saros 134)

August 10, 1980
(Saros 135)

July 11, 1991
(Saros 136)

June 10, 2002
(Saros 137)

May 10, 2013
(Saros 138)

April 8, 2024
(Saros 139)

March 9, 2035
(Saros 140)

February 5, 2046
(Saros 141)

January 5, 2057
(Saros 142)

December 6, 2067
(Saros 143)

November 4, 2078
(Saros 144)

October 4, 2089
(Saros 145)

September 4, 2100
(Saros 146)

In the 22nd century:

  • Solar saros 147: annular solar eclipse of August 4, 2111
  • Solar saros 148: total solar eclipse of July 4, 2122
  • Solar saros 149: total solar eclipse of June 3, 2133
  • Solar saros 150: annular solar eclipse of May 3, 2144
  • Solar saros 151: annular solar eclipse of April 2, 2155
  • Solar saros 152: total solar eclipse of March 2, 2166
  • Solar saros 153: annular solar eclipse of January 29, 2177
  • Solar saros 154: annular solar eclipse of December 29, 2187
  • Solar saros 155: total solar eclipse of November 28, 2198

In the 23rd century:

  • Solar saros 156: annular solar eclipse of October 29, 2209
  • Solar saros 157: annular solar eclipse of September 27, 2220
  • Solar saros 158: total solar eclipse of August 28, 2231
  • Solar saros 159: partial solar eclipse of July 28, 2242
  • Solar saros 160: partial solar eclipse of June 26, 2253
  • Solar saros 161: partial solar eclipse of May 26, 2264
  • Solar saros 162: partial solar eclipse of April 26, 2275
  • Solar saros 163: partial solar eclipse of March 25, 2286
  • Solar saros 164: partial solar eclipse of February 22, 2297

Metonic series[edit]

The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's ascending node.

21 eclipse events between June 21, 1982, and June 21, 2058
June 21 April 8–9 January 26 November 13–14 September 1–2
107 109 111 113 115
June 21, 1963 April 9, 1967 January 26, 1971 November 14, 1974 September 2, 1978
117 119 121 123 125

June 21, 1982

April 9, 1986

January 26, 1990

November 13, 1993

September 2, 1997
127 129 131 133 135

June 21, 2001

April 8, 2005

January 26, 2009

November 13, 2012

September 1, 2016
137 139 141 143 145

June 21, 2020

April 8, 2024

January 26, 2028

November 14, 2031

September 2, 2035
147 149 151 153 155

June 21, 2039

April 9, 2043

January 26, 2047

November 14, 2050

September 2, 2054
157

June 21, 2058

Other solar eclipses crossing the United States[edit]

Notable total and annular solar eclipse crossing the United States in the 20th century:

Total Annular Annular Total Total Total Annular Total Annular

Jun 8, 1918

Nov 22, 1919

Sep 1, 1951

Jun 30, 1954

Jul 10, 1972

Feb 26, 1979

May 30, 1984

Jul 11, 1991

May 10, 1994

Notable total and annular solar eclipse crossing the United States in the 21st century:

Annular Total Annular Total Total Annular Total Annular

May 20, 2012

Aug 21, 2017

Oct 14, 2023

April 8, 2024

Aug 12, 2045

Jun 11, 2048

Mar 30, 2052

Jan 16, 2056

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jamie Carter (April 8, 2019). "Countdown Begins To 'Great North American Eclipse', The Longest, Darkest and Best For 21 Years". Forbes. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  2. ^ Doris Elin Urrutia (August 21, 2019). "It's Not Too Early to Plan for the Great American Total Solar Eclipse of 2024". Space.com. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  3. ^ Sebastian Kettley (August 23, 2019). "Solar eclipse: Another 'Great American Eclipse' is coming – Get ready for solar spectacle". London: Daily Express / Sunday Express. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  4. ^ Aziz, Saba (February 12, 2024). "Total solar eclipse: All you need to know about the rare celestial event". Global News. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  5. ^ Dickinson, Terence (August 3, 2017). "Canada's last solar eclipse in 1979". Maclean's. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  6. ^ Total Solar Eclipse in Mexico, 1991 (in Spanish). National Autonomous University of Mexico. 1991. ISBN 9789683617613. Retrieved April 2, 2009.
  7. ^ "Location of Total Solar Eclipse of April 8, 2024". GreatAmericanEclipse.com. Retrieved September 9, 2017.
  8. ^ Gore, Leada (August 22, 2017). "Solar eclipse 2024: Best U.S. cities to see the next total solar eclipse". The Birmingham News. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  9. ^ Eliasen, Terry (August 21, 2017). "Next Solar Eclipse Puts New England in Path Of Totality". CBS Boston. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  10. ^ Fowler, Shane (August 23, 2017). "Prime location to view total eclipse in 7 years? New Brunswick". CBC News. Woodstock and Miramichi will spend the most time in the dark with totality durations of 3:17 and 3:09. Fredericton will experience about 2:21 minutes of totality. Moncton, Saint John and Bathurst will just miss out on experiencing a total technical blackout, but will still see 98 to 99 per cent of the sun disappear.
  11. ^ Yarr, Kevin (August 23, 2017). "P.E.I. on the path for 2024 total solar eclipse". CBC News. Retrieved August 29, 2017. Totality will cover the Island from about Summerside and west, with the centre of the path crossing over North Cape.
  12. ^ "NASA – Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 Apr 08". March 27, 2008. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008.
  13. ^ "Eclipse Path of Total Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024". www.timeanddate.com.
  14. ^ "2024 solar eclipse in Europe". European Eclipse Quadruplet.
  15. ^ "12P/Pons Brooks comet during 2024 total solar eclipse". Astro-Geo-GIS.com.
  16. ^ Espenak, Fred and Anderson, Jay. "Get Ready for Totality in '24" Sky&Telescope (April 2023), pp. 26-35. AAS Sky Publishing, Washington, DC.
  17. ^ Diba Mohtasham (February 22, 2024). "Delta's special total solar eclipse flight sold out in 24 hours". NPR.
  18. ^ "Total Solar Eclipse 2017 – Path Overlap with the 2024 Eclipse". eclipse2017.org. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  19. ^ van Gent, R.H. "Solar- and Lunar-Eclipse Predictions from Antiquity to the Present". A Catalogue of Eclipse Cycles. Utrecht University. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  20. ^ Saros Series Catalog of Solar Eclipses NASA Eclipse Web Site.
  21. ^ Ten Millennium Catalog of Long Solar Eclipses, −3999 to +6000 (4000 BCE to 6000 CE) Fred Espenak.

External links[edit]