Eclipse watchers have been waiting for more than six years for the last time a total solar eclipse traced its path across the United States, in 2017. After the a rare event happens on April 8be aware: the next opportunity won’t present itself anytime soon.
Viewers in the so-called “the path of totality“I will see the moon completely block the sun – an opportunity that those in North America will not have for more than 20 years. The next total solar eclipses in North America are not expected until 2044 and 2045.
“A total solar eclipse is one of the most spectacular things you can see in your lifetime,” Nahum Arav, an astrophysicist at Virginia Tech, told CBS News. The eclipse “looks like a black hole in the sky,” said Arav, who observed the path of total eclipses in 1991 and 2017.
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Today’s eclipse will begin to appear mid-morning around 11:07 a.m. PDT over the Pacific coast of Mexico, then move to Texas. Visibility of the eclipse should follow across 15 states — Oklahoma, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, new York, Vermont, New Hampshire And Maineamong them – before heading north to Canada and then leaving North America.
If the weather is clear, millions of people from coast to coast will be able to witness a partial solar eclipse, in which the moon partially covers the sun. However, only those in the path of totality will experience the darkness of the total solar eclipse.
When will the next total solar eclipse occur in the United States after the 2024 eclipse?
Solar eclipses occur about twice a year, Arav explained. “Eclipses occur uniformly across the Earth,” he told CBS News – but noted that the times they occur are not regular. That means eclipses can occur within just a few years, or every few decades, in North America.
Before the 2017 eclipse, the last total solar eclipse to cross North America it was in 1979. This was the first eclipse whose path of totality crossed the entire continent in 99 years.
Even though eclipses appear to occur randomly, scientists can determine exactly when and where they will occur.
“There is no ambiguity, because we know exactly where it will land,” Arav said.
There will be eight total solar eclipses visible from North America in the 21st century, Arav said, including one every 12 years on average.
The next total solar eclipse to cross North America is expected to occur on August 23, 2044, NASA said. However, the path of totality from this eclipse will only affect three states, according to The Planetary Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to public interest in space.
This upcoming eclipse will mainly be seen in Canada, Arav said.
Path of totality for the 2044 total solar eclipse
The 2044 eclipse will begin in Greenland on August 23, 2044 and continue across Canada.
The total solar eclipse of 2044 will be short and will appear mainly in Canada. It will be visible from three states in the United States: Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.
The path of totality will pass through Williston and Dickinson, North Dakota, and Great Falls, Montana.
Path of totality for the 2045 total solar eclipse
The next solar eclipse to cross a significant portion of the continental United States will occur in 2045, Arav said. That year, a solar eclipse darkened the sky in parts of the United States, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname and Brazil.
In North America, the 2045 total eclipse will be visible in many states as it moves from coast to coast. The eclipse will start in California and move east to end in Florida, like in 2017, Arav said.
There will be many U.S. cities where eclipse observers will be able to view the total eclipse, including Reno, Nevada; Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Orlando, Florida.
Future solar eclipses in North America after 2045
Scientists predict that eight total solar eclipses will occur in North America during the 21st century.
“Natural phenomena are like a Swiss clock,” Arav said. We know exactly when and where they will appear. »
After the total solar eclipses of 2044 and 2045, the next total eclipses in North America will occur in 2078 and 2099.
May 11, 2078
This total solar eclipse, on May 11, 2078, will pass over the southern United States.
Cities include:
Atlanta, Georgia
New Orleans, Louisiana
Charlotte, North Carolina
Virginia Beach, Virginia
September 14, 2099
This total solar eclipse of September 14, 2099 will cross a large part of the United States.
Cities include:
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Chicago, IL
Columbus, Ohio
Fargo, North Dakota
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