On Monday, April 8, at 11:07 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, the Earth’s familiar sun will briefly disappear for people in North America as a total solar eclipse enters the continent through Mexico’s Pacific coast.
From there, the “path of totality,” the band where the Sun is completely blocked from view, will cut diagonally across the continent, delighting U.S. viewers from Texas to Maine. All told, the totality will pass over 13 U.S. states, and at least a partial eclipse will be visible from all 50, within eyeshot of 99% of the U.S. population.
That includes us, here in Southern California, where we’ll see a nearly 50% eclipse. Joel Zinn, assistant professor at Cal State Long Beach’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, was gearing up for a public viewing event at the campus’s quad on Monday.
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While he studies stuff like asteroseismology and galactic archaeology, you could hear the philosopher in him as the eclipse approaches.
“As people who live in Southern California, we may take the sun for granted,” he said. “It’s just something that’s there in the sky, and we don’t have a chance to look in detail on what’s going on with the sun.
“This is the one time when people think about it in a different way,” he said. “We’re really lucky this can even happen in the first place.”
And then there’s how one event will be a moment to join millions across a continent. He sees the moment as an exciting opportunity to engage folks who know little about the sun.
The possibility of seeing solar prominences, sun spots, the loss of light in the middle of the day – it’s all got Zinn and his stargazing kin giddy.
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It is estimated that 31.6 million people in the U.S. live in the totality’s path, and many others will travel for the chance to see day become night for four and a half minutes.
And with that, here is a guide to help as you prepare for a day not quite like any other in the skies above.
What is a solar eclipse, and when exactly is the one on Monday?
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and sun, casting its shadow across our planet. The eclipse arriving on Monday will be a total solar eclipse, where the moon fully blocks the light of the sun from the Earth’s view along the “line of totality.”
In Southern California, we will see a partial eclipse, which will begin at 10:06 a.m., peaking at 11:12 a.m. and concluding at 12:22 p.m., according to the Griffith Observatory.
According to NASA, two to five eclipses occur each year. However, not all of these are total eclipses. If an eclipse occurs while the moon is near its furthest point from the Earth, the sun will peak around its edges, known as an annular solar eclipse.
A partial solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, but not in perfect alignment, obscuring only a chunk of the fireball. During a hybrid solar eclipse, the Earth’s curvature results in an annular eclipse shifting into a total eclipse.
The occurrence of total eclipses is due to a very unlikely coincidence involving the sizes of the moon and sun, and their distances from the Earth. This coincidence is a favorite eclipse fact of Dr. Marin Anderson, astrophysicist, radio astronomer and research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“It’s a coincidence that we happen to be on a planet with a moon that’s about 400 times smaller than our star, but that our star is about 400 times further away,” Anderson explained.
“And so we just so happened to live on this planet. At this moment in time, when we get to experience the moon being exactly the same size in the sky as the sun.”
Why should I care? Why does all this matter?
According to Anderson, in around a billion years, the moon will have drifted far enough from Earth that total eclipses will be a thing of the past, so get ‘em while we got ‘em.
Unlike the 2017 totality, this Monday’s eclipse is occurring around the sun’s solar maximum, when explosive activity in the corona is at its highest. That means more spectacular “streamers” and “prominences” coming off the corona like colorful wisps and curls. The upcoming totality will last for nearly 2 minutes longer than in 2017, resulting in a more spectacular experience over a longer period of time.
When the sun disappears in the middle of the day, a number of strange and beautiful things happen.
According to Christopher Burns, a volunteer telescope operator at Mount Wilson Observatory and research associate at the Observatories at Carnegie Science, standing under the totality feels like “an artificial sunset in all directions.” Birds start to freak out. The air becomes chilly in the sudden absence of sunlight.
“The stars come out, the brighter ones, and you can definitely see planets that normally you wouldn’t see during the day,” Burns said.
Right before totality, viewers can see what astronomers call the “diamond ring.”
“The surface of the moon is not a completely perfect sphere,” Burns explained. “It has bumps, it has mountains, it has craters and stuff like that. And so right when you’re getting most of the eclipse just about to happen, you still get little bits of light of the sun passing kind of through the valleys and it sort of creates this sort of diamond effect almost like it’s a ring with a diamond on it.”
During the totality, the sun’s corona forms a “white, ghostly halo” around the moon. And then the whole process reverses.
While eclipses themselves are not rare occurrences, the likelihood of a total eclipse passing directly overhead is. According to NASA, any given spot on Earth might fall under a total eclipse once every 360 years.
The next total solar eclipse to pass over the U.S. won’t arrive for another 20 years.
The planetarium at Orange Coast College by Friday had about 650 people on a registration list for this eclipse happening in the middle of a Monday workday. That has the planetarium’s interim manager, Jessica Artinger, happy with people’s interest. She expects about 1,000 to show up.
“I think it is just the rarity,” said Artinger.
Why are scientists so giddy about this?
Today’s scientists still rely on eclipses to make observations of the Sun.
Along with her duties as a research scientist at JPL, Anderson helps educate students and citizen scientists using the Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope (GAVRT) to map the sun. On April 8, the GAVRT team will be hosting a public, live-streamed webinar to demonstrate how eclipses can be used to aid solar research.
Scientists studying the sun are interested in better understanding the its corona, the outer atmosphere of the sun.
According to Anderson, the “corona is a really important part of the sun in terms of producing magnetic activity”, which produces “space weather events”, bursts of electromagnetic radiation that can wreak havoc on Earth’s infrastructure, satellites, and astronauts. Among other things, scientists are interested in better forecasting these events.
During an eclipse, as the moon transits across the sun’s path, it slowly covers and uncovers the Sun’s active regions, allowing scientists to take readings with much higher resolution.
At these times, the clarity of radio telescope readings, called angular resolution, improves by more than two orders of magnitude.
“We can see the structure of the magnetic fields in the sun’s outer atmosphere, in that corona, more than 100 times better than we would be able to see it during standard, non-eclipse observations,” Anderson said.
How can I safely view it?
Staring into an eclipse without proper eye protection can result in severe eye injury. So avoid direct sun-gazing.
According to NASA, looking at an eclipse through a camera lens, binoculars or telescope without special-purpose solar filters “will instantly cause severe eye injury.”
The Planetary Society provides detailed guidance on their website –https://www.planetary.org/articles/are-your-solar-eclipse-glasses-safe — about how to stay safe during an eclipse.
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First of all, only view eclipses through “eclipse glasses”. And make sure they meet the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) of “ISO 12312-2”, which should be printed on the glasses.
According to the The Planetary Society, eclipse viewers should only buy their glasses from one of the reputable sellers approved by the American Astronomical Society (AAS); a list is available on their website — https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters — along with guidance on how to tell if your eclipse glasses or viewers are safe to use — eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/how-to-tell-if-viewers-are-safe.
Here are precautions, courtesy of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health:
- Do not look directly at the Sun
- Wear eclipse glasses, or solar viewers, with certified solar filters and ensure lenses are in good condition.
- Free eclipse glasses are also available at select public libraries.
- Do not use sunglasses, binoculars, or telescopes
- Always supervise children using solar viewers
- Use a pinhole viewer to view the eclipse indirectly without looking at the sun. Instructions on how to do this are on this website.
- Monday is projected to be a sunny day in Los Angeles County. If residents are outside to view the eclipse, Public Health advises people to also wear sunscreen, a hat, and protective clothing to protect their skin.
Where can I view it?
If you already live in the path of totality, stay put and walk outside on April 8; you can find a map with totality transit times on NASA’s website — https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5123/. If you want to travel to see the total eclipse, find a spot in the path of totality in the U.S., Mexico or Canada.
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NASA is also hosting, co-hosting or sending speakers and presenters to events throughout the country (https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/events/).
Mount Wilson Observatory has canceled its viewing event due to unsafe weather conditions on the mountain, but in Southern California plenty of lower-elevation opportunities remain.
Many libraries, including multiple branches of the L.A. County Library system — — will be hosting viewing events starting in the morning; check out your library system’s website for more information.
Each of the OC Library branches will be giving out free glasses, except for Laguna Niguel Library, Los Alamitos Rossmoor Library, and Dana Point Library, which are temporarily closed for tenant improvements or repairs. Additionally, the Stanton Library is hosting a viewing party and after the eclipse, they will also be offering a free craft.
The museum of Riverside is hosting a viewing party in addition to giving out free glasses on the day.
Many colleges and universities are also hosting eclipse-viewing events with speakers and activities. Here’s a few:
Caltech: 10 a.m. to noon., at the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, 1216 E California Blvd., Pasadena.
Cal State Long Beach, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Upper Quad, Cal State Long Beach,1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach.
Cal State L.A.: 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., main walkway between the Biological Sciences Building and the Annenberg Science Complex, 5154 State University Drive.
Pierce College: 10 a.m., 2nd floor of the Center for the Sciences, 6201 Winnetka Ave., Woodland Hills.
Mt. San Antonio College: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., April 8, 2024 Mt. SAC-Randall Planetarium, 1100 Grand Ave, Walnut.
Orange Coast College Planetarium, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 2701 Fairview Rd, Costa Mesa
San Bernardino Valley College is hosting a viewing party at the museum. Set up begins at 9 a.m.
And then there’s the many local schools, where classrooms will be buzzing over the event.
Maricela Brambila, principal of Willard Elementary School in Pasadena, was gearing up during spring break for an eclipse-filled return of students on Monday.
“I think what I hope our students mostly take away from this is that while our universe is vast and may at times seem absolutely removed and incomprehensible from our day to day experience, events like this help us understand how everything is interconnected and can have an impact on us,” she said.
How can I photograph a solar eclipse?
There are a host of smartphone apps for eclipse chasers. The American Astronomical Society has compiled a list of useful ones for both iOS and Android devices, including its own Totality app that shows your location on a map of the totality path.
Digital SLR cameras will produce the best photos. Their manual exposure controls and ability to add zoom lenses and accessories like remote shutter buttons will let you make great pictures.
NASA published detailed guidelines for smartphone eclipse photography in 2017 with the caveat that “smartphones were never designed to do sun and moon photography.” That’s because the wide-angle lenses on most devices won’t let you capture close-up detail. But new phones released since then come with sophisticated sensors, multiple lenses and image stabilization software that give a better chance.
The American Astronomical Society advises using a solar filter to protect cameras against intense sunlight and heat.
You can buy a filter that screws onto DSLR lenses, but it will take time to remove when totality happens.
For smartphones, you can use a spare pair of eclipse glasses and hold it over the lens, or buy a smartphone filter.
Be careful on selfies: While you might think your vision isn’t at risk because you’re not looking at the sun, your phone’s screen could reflect harmful ultraviolet light, eye experts have warned.
What if I can’t see it in person?
For those unable to see the eclipse in-person, many organizations are putting on free, online events.
Griffith Observatory is not hosting an in-person event in Los Angeles but will be live-streaming from Texas. As mentioned above, the GAVRT team is hosting their own live-stream event. For the visually impaired, The LightSound Project will live-stream the eclipse using sound – more on that below.
NASA will also be putting on a live-streamed, online event called “Through the Eyes of NASA”, offering “expert commentary, live demos, and more.”
The experience for the visually impaired
In order to make solar eclipses more accessible for those with visual impairments, NASA has produced a book called “Getting a Feel for Eclipses, 2023 & 2024” that gives visually impaired readers a tactile way to explore the eclipse.
Researchers at Harvard University, building on the work of Wanda Diaz Merced, a blind astronomer, developed an open-source device that allows visually impaired people to hear eclipses. The device, called LightSound, converts light into sound that changes pitch as the incoming light brightens and dims. The LightSound team has made their designs freely available online, and distributed more than 750 of the devices to groups around the world. The team will also be hosting a live stream of Monday’s eclipse over Zoom.
Will animals act weird during the total solar eclipse, and what about pets?
While there are many individual sightings of critters behaving bizarrely during historic eclipses, only in recent years have scientists started to rigorously study the altered behaviors of wild, domestic and zoo animals.
Researchers say that many animals display behaviors connected with an early dusk.
Some zoos along the path are inviting visitors to help track animals.
As for indoor pets, they may react as much to what their owners are doing – whether they’re excited or nonchalant about the eclipse – as to any changes in the sky, said University of Arkansas animal researcher Raffaela Lesch.
“Dogs and cats pay a lot of attention to us, in addition to their internal clocks,” aid University of Arkansas animal researcher Raffaela Lesch.
Staff Writers Teresa Liu, along with City Editors Ryan Carter and Heather McRea, and The Associated Press, contributed to this article.
Source: Orange County Register
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