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The Solar Eclipse That Transfixed North America in Videos

By Tasos Kokkinidis
Solar eclipse
On April 8, 2024, the last total solar eclipse until 2045 crossed North America. Credit: NASA

Millions of people across Mexico, the US and Canada looked to the skies on Monday to witness a total solar eclipse carve a narrow path of darkness across the continent.

The path of totality when the Moon completely covered the Sun stretched from Texas to Maine in the United States. Outside the path of totality, people across the contiguous United States had the chance to see a partial solar eclipse, when the Moon covered part of the Sun.

Many cities in the path hosted public viewing events and offered eclipse safety glasses for free. At a handful of zoos, researchers joined citizen observers to see how animals behave.

As the eclipse neared totality, many animals in the Columbus Zoo, including sloth bear, red pandas, reindeer, and ostriches went to sleep as if it was nighttime.

Roads in many parts of the US experienced traffic jams and parking lots packed to full capacity as people flocked to see the total solar eclipse.

In Maine, for instance, officials said there were traffic delays round the state, with some roads seeing delays by as much as three hours. Tens of thousands of visitors reportedly flocked in to see the cosmic spectacle in Maine – the last stop in the path of the eclipse before it headed into Canada.

Science experiments during solar eclipse

Science experiments were also carried out. NASA fired rockets into the moon’s shadow to study how the Earth’s upper atmosphere is affected by the momentary dimming of sunlight, and volunteers captured images of the solar corona during the total eclipse, to help them better understand its effects and mysteries.

Space physicist Darci Snowden from Central Washington University sent up balloons to capture data and better understand how weather changed during the eclipse. Weather balloons capable of flying up to 33km (20m) were flown into the stratosphere, carrying battery-powered instruments for collecting data on temperature, humidity, pressure, as well as wind direction and speed.

Scientists at MIT’s Haystack Observatory are studying how the solar eclipse affected the topmost layers of the atmosphere, including its outermost ionosphere layer where many satellites orbit.

Total solar eclipses happen about every 18 months, but they’re often in unpopulated or remote areas whereas this one passed over several big cities across three countries.  However, they recur at any given place only once every 360 to 410 years.

After Monday, North Americans will have to wait exactly 8 years, 11 months and 22 days to see another total solar eclipse. A total solar eclipse visible from North America would occur next only on 30 March, 2033, according to Nasa.

A solar eclipse takes place when the Moon moves between the Earth and the Sun, blocking some or all of the Sun’s rays from reaching the Earth. The event requires the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth to be in exactly the right alignment for the Moon to cast a shadow on our planet.

When this occurs, the Moon casts two types of shadows. One results in a partial solar eclipse, which covers only part of the Sun, and the other is called a total solar eclipse, during which the Sun’s disc is entirely covered by the Moon, except for a soft halo of scattered light coming from the gas giant’s outer atmosphere.

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