The 7 year wait for a big solar eclipse event in the United States is now over, with the so-called “Great American Eclipse 2024” here today. NASA, NOAA, and the National Park Service have planned viewing events along the path of totality which stretches from Texas through to New England. While the solar eclipse will be most stunning there with the sun completely obscured by the moon, most of the U.S. will be able to enjoy some form of the eclipse today as the sun becomes at least partially blocked over every state except for Alaska.
A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk. NASA warns that safety is the number one priority when viewing a total solar eclipse and people should only look towards the sun with official eclipse glasses otherwise their vision could be temporarily or permanently harmed.
Weatherboy has distributed thousands of free solar eclipse glasses around the country and continues to hand out free glasses around the Dallas, Texas area where NASA and NOAA are teaming up for a special event inside the Cotton Bowl Stadium there.
In Dallas, partiality of the solar eclipse begins at 12:23 pm and peaks at 1:40 pm. Totality will last there about 4 minutes. The eclipse will “spread” from southwest to northeast during the day, with the eclipse arriving in northern Maine at 2:22 pm in Caribou where it will peak at 3:33 pm.
After today’s solar eclipse, the next total solar eclipse that will be visible from the contiguous United States will be on August 23, 2044. Astronomy fans in the U.S. will have far fewer opportunities to see the 2044 eclipse than the upcoming one on April 8 since it will only be viewable across a few northern states and Canada. The next larger event will occur in August 12, 2045; that one will be visible across populated portions of the west, central, and southeastern United States.
