THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
(207) 780-4249 usm.maine.edu/planet
43.6667° N 70.2667° W
Founded January 1970
2022-2023: XVI
Sunrise: 6:26 a.m.
Sunset: 6:42 p.m.
Civil twilight ends: 7:11 p.m.
Sun's host constellation: Virgo the Maiden
Moon phase: Waning crescent (37% illuminated)
Moonrise: 1:33 a.m. (9/21/2022)
Moonset: 5:14 p.m. (9/21/2022)
Julian date: 2459843.16
"Trust the ache. Do not suppress it. Move as it directs you. If it scorches your legs, dance; if it tingles your fingers, paint; if it pushes a lump into your throat, sing; if it makes every passing second seem like a drop of gold vanishing into a dark void, create. Even if nobody will ever hear your harmony, admire your brushstrokes, praise your verse, or marvel at your dance, you'll find the deepest solace in the act itself. The pain doesn't crave applause. It demands expression."
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
Solar Eclipse 2024 # 4: The Totality Path
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567 DAYS UNTIL THE
APRIL 8, 2024 TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE
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Today we return to the other series we're running in the "Daily Astronomer." For the benefit of those who might have forgotten -and who can blame you?- toward the end of the last DA school year, we started a series devoted to the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse. As is true with the "Egg to Apple" series, this one will also end by the conclusion of this school year...we think. We resume this series with an article pertaining solely to the totality path.
First, a rapid review:
Maine, along with many other states in the eastern US will experience a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.
A map showing the totality path across North America. Image: GreatAmericanEclipse.com
As one can determine from the above map, the totality path, the region in which an observer will be able to see the total solar eclipse, will pass through Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
Known as the Second Great American Eclipse,* this solar eclipse will be visible from a number of rather sizable cities: Dallas/Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Buffalo, Austin, Montreal, Mazatlan, Durango, Torrean, Columbus. Considering the population density within this path, the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse could be the most watched solar eclipse in world history! P This assertion is based on the millions of people who watched the First Great American Eclipse on August 21, 2017.* As more people live within this totality path than the one that traversed the continent in 2017, it stands to reason that it will be more widely viewed.
Regard the populations of some of these cities:
Dallas (1.3 million); Austin (951,000); Indianapolis (864,000); Cleveland (385,0000; Buffalo (256,00); Mazatlan (503,000); Torrean (730,000) Add to these the metropolitan populations as well as those who will travel to these cities for the express purpose of observing the April 8, 2024 eclipse. It is estimated that as many as half a billion people will watch this spectacle from this comparatively narrow path.
To understand why totality paths are so narrow, we must study the graphic below:
Notice that the moon's shadow tapers down as it approaches Earth. The part of this shadow that touches the planet's surface will tend to be quite small: rarely ever wider than 100 miles. As the moon revolves and Earth rotates, this shadow describes an arc across Earth and in so doing produces the totality path. Imagine a thin paint brush tipped with black paint. Press its end on a globe and then spin it: you will have created a simulated totality path.
Although millions of people will still be able to watch a partial solar eclipse within wide regions centered on the totality path, only those within this band will be able to see a total solar eclipse.
If you have never seen a total solar eclipse, we strongly encourage you to go out of your way to observe it whenever the opportunity presents itself. If you have seen a total solar eclipse, no encouragement will be necessary.
*This Great American Eclipse was so named because the totality path extended from the west to east coast of the US for the first time in 99 years!
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