On Monday, April 8, the sky’s most dramatic event occurs as the path of a total solar eclipse sweeps across the U.S. and the 2024 eclipse begins. At such times, the Moon is directly between the Sun and Earth, and it casts its shadow on our planet.
Because the Sun is large, the Moon’s shadow has two parts. If you’re under the outer, lighter shadow — called the penumbra — you will see a partial eclipse. But that’s not the best place to see it. Ideally, your goal should be to stand beneath the Moon’s darker, inner shadow — the umbra. That’s where day will turn into night, where several planets will become visible, and where the corona — the Sun’s normally invisible outer atmosphere — will shine forth in all its glory.
The Moon’s penumbra first touches Earth at 11:42 a.m. EDT and last contacts it at 4:52 p.m. EDT. The total phase of the eclipse begins at 12:39 p.m. EDT, a bit more than 620 miles (998 km) south of the Republic of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean. The umbra remains in contact with Earth’s surface for 3 hours, 16 minutes, and 45 seconds until 3:55 p.m. EDT when it vanishes in the North Atlantic Ocean 340 miles (547 km) southwest of Ireland.
The total length of the 2024 eclipse path is 9,190 miles (14,790 km). The magnitude of this eclipse is 1.0565, which means the Moon’s diameter is 5.65 percent larger than the Sun’s. Only when the magnitude is 1 or more will there be a total eclipse. The greatest eclipse occurs at 2:17 p.m. EDT, and the maximum length of totality anywhere on Earth is 4 minutes 28 seconds. That point is just a few miles north of the small town of Nazas, Mexico.
