The April 8, 2024 eclipse promises to be more remarkable and historic than the previous eclipse. It will last two minutes longer and cover much more of the United States.
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Image Credit: www.nationaleclipse.com - Overview
The April 8, 2024 eclipse promises to be more remarkable and historic than the previous eclipse. It will last two minutes longer and cover much more of the United States. As we continue to prepare for the Great North American Eclipse, we thought we would share some interesting trivia. So, here are some facts about the '24 eclipse that will be sure to intrigue you.
2024 ECLIPSE:
1. The 2024 eclipse will occur in the U.S. only seven years after the last total solar eclipse occurred in the U.S., a relatively short time frame.
2. The 2024 eclipse has a maximum duration of totality of 4 minutes and 28.0 seconds.
3. The centerline of the 2024 eclipse will enter the U.S. near Radar Base, Texas, at about 12:10pm CDT and exit the U.S. in Monticello, Maine, at about 4:41 p.m. EDT.
4. The path of the 2024 eclipse is about 9,200 miles long from beginning to end.
5. From Texas to Maine, the path of the 2024 eclipse is about 2,142 miles long, representing only about 23 percent of its total length.
6. The 2024 eclipse belongs to a "series" of eclipses called "Saros 139" that includes 71 eclipses occurring about every 18 years from 1501 to 2763.
7. The eclipse series of which the 2024 eclipse belongs will peak in duration at 7 minutes and 29 seconds in 2186.
8. Eclipses have "twins." The total solar eclipse of May 11, 2078, is a "twin" of the 2024 eclipse.
9. The path of the 2024 eclipse will cross over Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and tiny parts of Tennessee and Michigan.
10. The magnitude of the 2024 eclipse is 1.0566. Any eclipse with a magnitude of at least 1.0 is a total eclipse.
11. All total eclipses have points of greatest duration and greatest eclipse. For the 2024 eclipse, those points are located in Mexico.
12. For the 2024 eclipse, no other state has a longer path of totality than Texas, with 478 miles of shadow coverage.
13. The path of the 2024 eclipse will cross over four state capitals.
14. As with the 2017 eclipse, the 2024 eclipse will occur on a Monday.
15. The partial phases of the 2024 eclipse will last for a total of about two to three hours.
16. From Texas to Maine, the 2024 eclipse travels about 2,142 miles in approximately 64 minutes and 29 seconds at an average speed of about 1,993 mph.
17. For the 2024 eclipse, the smallest partial eclipse in the U.S. and contiguous U.S. will occur in Alaska and Washington, respectively, with only about 16 percent of the Sun obscured in Washington and with Alaska directly on the dividing line between partial eclipse and no eclipse at all.
18. Before 2024, the last total solar eclipse to occur on April 8 was in 2005. The next total solar eclipse to occur on April 8 will be in 2722. Neither in the U.S.
19. Most of North America and Central America will get at least a partial solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, and a partial eclipse will be seen in small parts of South America and Europe.
20. The path of the 2024 eclipse crosses the path of the 2017 eclipse, making it possible to see two total solar eclipses from the same spot in the span of only seven years.
21. The path of the 2024 eclipse has a maximum width of about 125.9 miles.
22. Compared to the 2017 eclipse, the 2024 eclipse has a duration of totality that's about 68 percent longer and a path of totality that's about 76 percent wider at its widest point.
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Written by: Ninfa O. Barnard