On Monday, a portion of Earth’s inhabitants will witness a solar eclipse. That portion is North America. There are four different types of solar eclipses: total solar eclipse, annual solar eclipse, partial solar eclipse, and hybrid solar eclipse.
The anticipated eclipse is widely discussed and has excited people because it is a total solar eclipse, which is regarded as a rare phenomenon. As according to Royal Museums Greenwich, once a place on Earth witnesses a total solar eclipse, it will be about 400 years before that part sees the next one.
When and where will the solar eclipse occur?
It will commence at 9:12 pm (IST) on April 8 and will conclude by 2:22 am on April 9.
The eclipse will begin at sunrise over the Pacific Ocean, then cut through Mexico, and will become visible on the coast of Mexico near the city of Mazatlan at about 11:07 local time (19:07 BST) and cross the United States from Texas to Maine and Canada.
Most of North America will see a partial eclipse, but viewers within the deepest shadow, a band sliding from Mazatlán, Mexico, to the Newfoundland coast near Gander, Canada, will experience a total solar eclipse. The eclipse’s visibility is predicted to track through 15 states, some of them being Oklahoma, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, before heading northward into Canada and then exiting North America.
Technicalities of the eclipse
The Moon’s shadow will run across the Earth at a speed of 1,500 mph (2,400 km/h), tracing a north-easterly arc through the states of Durango and Coahuila before casting parts of Texas, Arkansas, and neighbouring states into darkness. It will take about 80 minutes from the moment the moon first begins to cover the sun to the moment of totality, then another 80 minutes to complete the process in reverse.
How many people will witness a total solar eclipse?
Many cities lie inside the path of the total eclipse, the width of which varies from 108 miles to 122 miles.
The Viewers call it “the path of totality” and will see the moon completely block the sun. This spectacle of ring of fire, as described, will be witnessed by about 32 million people in the United States who live within the path of totality, with federal officials predicting another 5 million people will travel to be there.
It is said that when the eclipse reaches Niagara Falls (15:18 Eastern (19:18 GMT)), a record crowd of up to a million people is expected to turn out to watch the mist.
Various special events, festivals and even mass weddings will take place in towns and cities across the path. NASA will also be organising events to witness the cosmic spectacle.
Viewers are expected to experience drop in temperature, a shift in wind and other changes in the atmosphere. Additionally, the viewers shall take proper safety measures while viewing the eclipse.
For clarity purposes, what is an eclipse?
NASA defines an eclipse as “an awe-inspiring celestial event that drastically changes the appearance of the two biggest objects we see in our sky: our Sun and Moon. On Earth, people can experience solar and lunar eclipses”.
How is a solar eclipse formed? A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun.
What is a total solar eclipse?
When the Moon blocks the Sun entirely, the areas in the centre of the Moon’s shadow at the time witness a total solar eclipse. The sky darkens and people who are in the path of a total solar eclipse can get a glimpse of the Sun’s corona, the outer atmosphere, which is usually not visible due to the bright face of the Sun. A solar eclipse is witnessed only during the new moon. However, that doesn’t mean that it occurs every month. The moon and the sun appear roughly the same size in the sky.
This particular solar eclipse has an air of exhilaration as the next total solar eclipses in North America are not anticipated until 2044 and 2045.
