The total solar eclipse of April 8 2024 will be visible across a huge area of North America, including a wide band of northern Mexicom the central and eastern USA, and eastern Canada. This will be a spectacular total eclipse of the Sun, lasting just under 4½ minutes at maximum and visible to millions of people over a path up to 197 km wide.
The total eclipse begins in the South Pacific at 16:38:44 UT, and ends over the North Atlantic at 19:55:29 UT. The maximum eclipse is at 18:17:13 UT, when the total phase will last just under 4½ minutes. The partial eclipse will be visible over almost all of North America and Greenland between 15:42:07 UT and 20:52:14 UT.
More information on this eclipse may be found at Fred Espenak's site. You can plot the eclipse for yourself using the table of mapping co-ordinates.
The following map shows the path of the total eclipse. Please note that these maps are approximate. Check with reliable sources before making travel plans.
This map shows the path of the total eclipse:
The total eclipse begins at local dawn, 16:39 UT, just north of Tongareva in the South Pacific's Line Islands. The path is 144km wide here, and the eclipse will last over 2 minutes.
After crossing the Pacific, the path of totality passes south of Mexico's Islas Revillagigedo; Isla Socorro will actually see a total eclipse, although it is somewhat north of the centreline. The eclipse then clips the Islas Marias, and hits the Mexican mainland just south of Mazatlán, at 18:09 UT. Here, the path of totality is 199km wide, and the eclipse will last 4 minutes and 27 seconds.
The maximum eclipse occurs at 18:17 UT, near Nazas, Durango. The total eclipse will last 4 minutes 28.1 seconds, and will be visible over a path 198 km wide.
The path of totality then moves north-east through Sinaloa and Durango to Coahuila; Torreón should see the total eclipse about 18:19 UT. The centre of the eclipse crosses the Mexico-US border at Piedras Negras / Eagle Pass, at 18:30 UT. The total eclipse at this point is still 4 minutes and 27 seconds on the centreline.
The total eclipse then heads north-east across the USA, crossing Texas, the south-east corner of Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The centreline of totality will pass just south of Dallas at 18:42 UT, with the total eclipse still over 4 minutes 20 seconds on the centreline. At 18:51 UT, the eclipse will be just south of Nimrod Lake, Arkansas -- 21 years later, the total eclipse of August 12, 2045 crosses the same spot; part of the incredible USA eclipse bonanza.
The centre passes just north of Little Rock, Arkansas, before crossing into Missouri; St. Louis is unlucky again, being just north of the eclipse path for the second time in 7 years at 18:59 UT. The eclipse then passes into southern Illinois; it passes just south of Carbondale at 19:01 UT, at which point the total eclipse will last 4 minutes 9 seconds on the centreline, and be visible over a path 186 km wide. This same spot saw a total eclipse just 7 years previously, on August 21, 2017.
The eclipse path then crosses Indiana, with the centreline passing just south of Indianapolis at 19:08 UT; it then passes over Ohio, with the centreline passing over the waters of Lake Erie. The centreline will pass almost right over Buffalo, New York, at 19:20 UT; the eclipse duration is down to 3 minutes 45 seconds on the centreline, but that's still spectacular. With the path of totality still 178 km wide, Niagara Falls should see a good total eclipse. After crossing northern New York state, the centre of the eclipse clips Vermont and then passes briefly into Canada, before re-entering the USA in Maine, at 19:31 UT. The eclipse duration here is down to 3 minutes 27 seconds, but that's still a very long total eclipse. The eclipse path then crosses into New Brunswick, and clips the north of Prince Edward Island before passing right over the Magdalen Islands at 19:39 -- the centreline of totality will pass just north of Fatima, with the duration of the eclipse still over 3 minutes and the path width 167 km.
Finally, the eclipse passes right over the island of Newfoundland, and then heads off into the Atlantic, to finish over the ocean at 19:55 UT.
|
Copyright (C) 1995-2005 Ian Cameron Smith.
|
