Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024


The solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, also known as the Great North American Eclipse, was a total solar eclipse visible across a band covering parts of North America, from Mexico to Canada and crossing the contiguous United States. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the Sun. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, which blocks all direct sunlight and allows some of the Sun's corona and solar prominences to be seen. Totality occurs only in a limited path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a larger surrounding region.
During this eclipse, the Moon's apparent diameter was 5.5 percent larger than average as a result of occurring about a day after perigee. With a magnitude of 1.0566, the eclipse's longest duration of totality was 4 minutes and 28 seconds near the Mexican town of Nazas, Durango.
This particular eclipse occurred at the Moon's ascending node of orbit. Totality was visible from 6 Mexican states, 15 U.S. states, and 6 Canadian provinces. Approximately 44 million people lived in the path of totality, including 32 million in the United States, 6 million in Canada, and 6 million in Mexico. The 10 largest cities in the path of totality accounted for a third of this population. Adding people who travelled to the path of totality, an estimated 50 million people experienced the total solar eclipse, with at least 20 million people travelling to areas within the path of totality in the US alone. Meanwhile, about 652 million people experienced a partial solar eclipse.
This eclipse was the first total solar eclipse visible from Canada since August 1, 2008, and from the provinces since February 26, 1979. It was the first over Mexico since July 11, 1991. It was also the first over the United States since August 21, 2017. This is the only solar eclipse in the 21st century with totality visible from all three countries. The next total solar eclipse in the US will be on March 30, 2033, which will pass over Alaska. The next total eclipse in the contiguous United States of the US will be on August 23, 2044. The next total eclipse of similar width will take place on August 12, 2045, which will traverse coast-to-coast in a trajectory similar to the 2017 eclipse.

General path of shadow

The totality of the solar eclipse was visible in a strip beginning in the Pacific Ocean, the edge of which passed approximately 60 kilometers north of Penrhyn atoll, 115 kilometers south of Starbuck Island, 275 kilometers north of Vostok Island, and 370 kilometers north of the Marquesas Islands. Later, the total solar eclipse was visible from North America, starting from the west coast of Mexico then ascending in a northeasterly direction through Mexico, the United States, and Canada, before ending in the Atlantic Ocean about 700 kilometers southwest of Ireland.

Visibility in the Americas

Mexico

Totality first passed over the Revillagigedo Islands and Islas Marías of Nayarit. Upon reaching the continental mainland, totality passed through the states of Sinaloa, northern Nayarit, Durango, extreme southeast Chihuahua, and Coahuila.
A partial eclipse was visible across the remainder of the country, including 79% coverage of the solar disc in Mexico City. Torreón was the most populous Mexican city in the path of totality.

United States

In the United States, totality was visible through the states of Texas ; Oklahoma ; Arkansas ; Missouri ; Tennessee ; Illinois ; Kentucky; Indiana ; Ohio ; Michigan ; Pennsylvania ; Upstate New York ; northern Vermont ; New Hampshire; and Maine; with the line of totality going almost directly over the state's highest point Mount Katahdin. The largest city that was entirely in the path was Dallas, Texas. It was the second total eclipse visible from the central United States in just seven years, after the eclipse of August 21, 2017. It was the last total solar eclipse visible in the contiguous United States until August 23, 2044.
A partial solar eclipse was visible in all of the other parts of the contiguous United States, Hawaii, and southeast Alaska.
Delta Air Lines scheduled two special eclipse-following flights: one from Austin to Detroit on a large-window A220-300, and one from Dallas to Detroit. Various other flights in the path of totality also avoided cloud cover entirely.

Canada

In Canada, totality was visible through parts of Southern Ontario, parts of southern Quebec, central New Brunswick, western Prince Edward Island, the northern tip of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, and central Newfoundland. Then, it ended on the eastern Atlantic coast of Newfoundland. The most populous Canadian city that the path of totality intersected was Montreal. Windsor, London, Toronto, and Ottawa lay just north of the path of totality, and Moncton just south of it.
A partial solar eclipse was visible in all of the other parts of Canada, except the western part of Yukon and the western tip of the Northwest Territories.
Boat cruises to observe the eclipse were conducted on Lake Erie, Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and Saint Lawrence River.

Central America and South America

The partial eclipse was seen in all Central American countries, from Belize to Panama, all the Greater Antilles, and northern South America.

Largest cities and recommended viewing sites

identified the ten largest cities where totality was visible. In population order, they were:
Astronomy magazine provided a list of 20 recommended viewing sites, based on factors such as proximity to the center line, population size, ease of access, and so on. They were ordered from west to east:

Visibility in other continents

Europe

A partial eclipse passed over Svalbard, Iceland, Ireland, western parts of the United Kingdom, north-western parts of Spain and Portugal, the Azores, and the Canary Islands. Cloud cover prevented views of it from most of the British Isles, although it was seen in Western Scotland. Unusually, this eclipse extended below the horizon, where the greatest phase was observed at mid-nautical twilight in Galicia and the beginning of astronomical twilight in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The extension of the eclipse path within the twilight zone created what was likely the best observation window for the 12P/Pons–Brooks comet located closely to Jupiter.

Oceania

The partial eclipse was seen in Hawaii, eastern Kiribati, Tokelau, American Samoa except for its extreme western part, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and the Pitcairn Islands. Although all located east of the 180th meridian, the local time of the eclipse in Kiribati and Tokelau was Tuesday, April 9, 2024, because either UTC+13 or UTC+14 is observed in these areas.

Characteristics

Magnitude

The magnitude of an eclipse, or the ratio of the angular diameter of the Moon to the angular diameter of the Sun, must be one or greater for a total eclipse to occur. The Moon was near perigee during this eclipse. Occurring only about 24 hours after perigee, the Moon's apparent diameter was larger. The Sun had an angular diameter of 31'56" at the moment of greatest eclipse. As the magnitude of this eclipse at that time was 1.0566, the angular diameter of the Moon was 1.0566 times that of the Sun, or 33'44". This gave the eclipse a wider path of totality and more maximum time in totality compared to the total eclipse in 2017, which had a magnitude of 1.0306.

Solar prominences

The eclipse occurred around the solar maximum, a period of greatest solar activity in the Sun's 11-year solar cycle, and it was anticipated that solar prominences would be visible during totality. Many observers reported seeing solar prominences during the event. Most plainly visible to the naked eye was a very bright red point of light near the lowest portion of the Sun's disk, which on telescopic views and photographs showed as a tent-shaped angular structure. The red and pink hues were the result of hydrogen and helium plasma being thrown up in broad arcs but never leaving the sun's atmosphere. Telescopic photographs revealed the western limb having several smaller, irregular shapes, of which one large, ragged shape appeared disconnected from the Sun's surface on one side. Several smaller prominences were also visible on the eastern limb, though because of the eclipse's relatively high magnitude, prominences on both limbs could not be viewed at the same time. These shapes correlate in detail with the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory solar telescope images taken in space at the same as the earthbound eclipse, and with images from the ground-based National Solar Observatory GONG telescope in Cerro Tololo, Chile.

Shadow bands

The shadow bands phenomenon was observed and documented in some locations with clear skies. Attempts to observe and record shadow bands on the ground were disappointed in many areas of totality by the phenomenon not appearing in the event, perhaps having been washed out by the diffuse illumination of cloudy skies in various locations.

Eclipse path intersections

The path of the April 8, 2024, eclipse crossed the path of the previous American total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, with the intersection of the two paths being in southern Illinois, in Makanda, just south of Carbondale. The path of the April 8 eclipse also crossed the path of the annular solar eclipse that occurred less than 6 months prior, on October 14, 2023, intersecting in the vicinity of San Antonio, Texas. The intersection of two total solar eclipses over the exact same spot within a 7-year period was found to be unusual, since the average interval for any given spot on Earth to observe a total solar eclipse is about once every 375 years. A similar total eclipse intersection occurred in Turkey during the August 1999 and March 2006 solar eclipses. A similar intersection of total solar eclipses will also occur over Egypt in August 2027 and March 2034. The intersection patterns are caused by the dynamics of the Saros cycle.

Impact

Economy and tourism

It was projected before the eclipse that there could be a $6 billion boost to the US economy due to the eclipse. The Mayor of Rochester, New York, Malik Evans, told reporters that the city was expected to bring in between $10–12 million to the city's economy from the Friday before the eclipse to the day of it. However, the day was cloudy. On April 12, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced record breaking tourism numbers between April 6 and 9, which was a 45% increase compared to 2023, with nearly one million visitors to New York State parks and over 5.5 million toll transactions recorded.
One company that tracks Airbnb data likened the economic impact of the event to having Taylor Swift's concerts taking place simultaneously in every city along the eclipse's path. In the United States, the prices of motels and hotels near the path of totality increased up to 100 percent on April 7 and April 8. Montreal saw a 20% surge in hotel occupancy for April 7 and April 8. An estimated 20 million people travelled to the path of totality within the United States for the total solar eclipse, exceeding the estimated numbers for the August 2017 solar eclipse 7 years earlier by four times.
The eclipse caused a drop in solar power generation, with Texas experiencing a decrease from 12,000 MW to just over 3,000 MW at 2 p.m. Wind power generation also decreased by about 50% that day. However, there were no disruptions in power distribution as supply exceeded demand.
At Yankee Stadium, the Yankees gave away eclipse T-shirts to the first 15,000 fans at the game that day. The eclipse had pushed the start time back by four hours.

Traffic

Prior to the solar eclipse, US officials expected the April 2024 solar eclipse to be the largest travel event in the US in years, with up to 4 million travelers expected. Some likened the projected tourism surge to "50 Super Bowls happening all at once". At least 5 million Americans had travelled to see the August 2017 solar eclipse, and based on the mass traffic jams that had ensued following the eclipse, transportation agencies prepared for a potentially even bigger traffic problem, in the wake of the April 2024 solar eclipse. Highways in the area of totality saw significant increases in traffic, with departing tourists caught in traffic jams lasting up to eight hours. Many of those trying to drive down Interstate 93 in New Hampshire, for example, found themselves in jams lasting until at least 2 a.m. the following morning, resulting in numerous cars breaking down. Drivers and passengers spent four to six hours to pass through Franconia Notch where Interstate 93 is reduced to a single lane in each direction. Major highways in the state remained crowded through rush hour the following morning and into the afternoon. A similar effect was seen during the following morning's rush hour in northbound Interstate 65 in Indianapolis. In Vermont there were an estimated 60,000 additional cars and 248 inbound aircraft over the span of the eclipse weekend, with about 160,000 visitors coming into the state per Secretary of Transportation Joe Flynn. Drivers in southern Illinois leaving the region of totality to the north toward St. Louis, Missouri faced more than 80 miles of stop-and-go heavy congestion. Unlike other regions, traffic was lighter in Texas than the state's Department of Transportation had anticipated.

Animal behavior

Zookeepers, naturalists, university researchers, and citizen scientists positioned themselves to observe animal behavior during the eclipse, some with the goal of comparing results with observations made during the 1932 and 2017 total solar eclipses, and others opening new avenues of animal behavioral research. Wildlife and zoo animals were observed along the path of totality and in areas that saw only a partial eclipse. NASA worked with ARISA Lab, LLC, to recruit thousands of citizen scientists to help record sounds and observations of animal behavior during the eclipse., a total of 3,372 written observations had been submitted by citizen scientists, and 770 recording devices had been registered with the project to provide sound and ultrasound recordings of wildlife and other ambient sounds before, during, and after the eclipse in a standardized way.

Wildlife

Changes in wild animal behavior were recorded during the eclipse, especially among birds. These changes were similar to those observed during the 2017 eclipse, but more pronounced. Weather radar was adapted to monitor the activity of flying animals, and birds were observed to decrease their daytime activities. Radar imaging demonstrated "noticeable decreases in typical daytime biological activities such as the movements of hawks and other soaring birds|soaring] and insect-eating birds." Owls began hooting, and vultures and other birds began to roost. A team from Purdue University, observing a variety of ecosystems on wild-lands maintained by the university near Butlerville, Indiana, recorded the songs of 20 different species of birds going quiet, leaving only the songs of the robin and the tufted titmouse during the eclipse. Birding students at the University of Vermont observed species at Lake Champlain during the eclipse that had not been observed there before, including Bohemian waxwings, red-tailed hawks, and pileated woodpeckers.
Haikubox community science data from hundreds of locations found that at locations experiencing more than 99 percent obscurity, and in the absence of human vocalizations, birds generally stopped vocalizing, but that there was variability between locations and individual species responses.
Insects and frogs in the wild were also observed making their nighttime sounds. Cicadas in Arizona stopped singing when the Sun was 50% blocked during their partial eclipse. Spring peepers, a type of nocturnal frog, were heard intermittently by the Purdue team in rural Indiana while the eclipse was partial, but they abruptly filled the soundscape at the moment of totality. Wild cricket frogs were observed in Fort Worth, Texas, behaving similarly.

Zoo animals

At the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, ostriches returned to their barn and began their evening rituals, such as preening and grooming each other. When the sunlight returned, the ostriches left their barn and resumed their daytime activities. A group of elephants at the zoo gathered together and began thumping their trunks on the ground. At the Fort Worth Zoo in Texas, flamingos bunched together, vocalized, and began marching together, which is a bonding behavior. A troop of gorillas at that zoo also gathered at the door to their indoor enclosure, where they were normally fed each evening, and appeared to act confused and frustrated, as if having missed their evening meal. The Fort Worth Botanic Garden placed hundreds of butterflies in their conservatory March 1, allowed them to acclimate, and observed them during the eclipse. The butterflies "didn't roost but instead ceased flying and remained very still." Goats at the FWBC were observed resting or sleeping during the eclipse. Giraffes at the Dallas Zoo also began to gallop, a behavior witnessed there and at many other zoos during the 2017 eclipse. Two aldabra tortoises at the same zoo were observed to rear on their hind legs and attack the door to their indoor enclosure, damaging the door's frame. Lions at the Buffalo Zoo started roaring just before totality.
Not all zoo animals reacted to the eclipse, nor did researchers expect them to. During the 2017 eclipse, researchers at the Riverbanks Zoo in South Carolina observed behavior changes in about 75% of species. Adam Hartstone-Rose, a biology professor at North Carolina State University, hypothesized that the captive animals that did react may have been responding to the emotions of human zoo visitors. Zoologists and volunteers at Parc Safari, a zoo in Hemmingford, [Quebec (township)|Hemmingford, Quebec], noted very little change in the animals they observed there, including giraffes, lions, hyenas, wolves, lynx, llamas, alpacas, and dromedaries. Hyenas vocalized during the eclipse, but there were other coinciding events that might have contributed to that behavior. The zoo's director of zoology, Aurélien Berthelot, did not expect much activity from their mammals. For example, lions sleep up to eighteen hours per day. Some roared during the eclipse while others slept. Analyses of their observations are continuing.

Human behavior

Some people acted irrationally, with conspiracy theories spreading online about the rapture occurring during the event. In Los Angeles, Danielle Johnson killed her infant when she threw her children off a balcony. She was referring to the eclipse as "the epitome of spiritual warfare" and an "apocalypse" on her Twitter account before the tragic incident. President Donald Trump, at the time running his second successful campaign, posted a propaganda video to his Truth Social account, depicting his head as the moon blocking out the sun with the phrases "the most important moment in human history is taking place in 2024" and "We will save America. And make it great again" being seen in the video. Scientific study has not proven a direct link between solar eclipses and human mental health, along with these sometimes dangerous grandiose ideologies that some people can harbor during these natural spectacles.

Responses

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders preemptively declared a state of emergency related to the eclipse, citing the expected increase of travel to the state which could result in transportation difficulties, such as in Fort Smith, where the police prepared for traffic congestion as hotels filled up. Bell County, Texas Judge David Blackburn preemptively declared a state of emergency in February 2024 due to the projected number of visitors to the area. The region surrounding Niagara Falls, Ontario, also declared a state of emergency; as an existing major tourist destination along the path of totality, it expected an influx of at least one million visitors on April 8.
A lawsuit was filed on April 2 by six inmates of various religions at Woodbourne Correctional Facility in New York against the state, stating that the decision to lock down the prison during the eclipse conflicted with their religious beliefs. The solar eclipse is important in various religions. The state settled the lawsuit by allowing the six inmates to view the eclipse.

Eclipse details

Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the Moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
EventTime
First Penumbral External Contact2024 April 8 at 15:43:23.3 UTC
First Umbral External Contact2024 April 8 at 16:40:00.7 UTC
First Central Line2024 April 8 at 16:41:09.4 UTC
First Umbral Internal Contact2024 April 8 at 16:42:18.1 UTC
First Penumbral Internal Contact2024 April 8 at 17:46:09.2 UTC
Greatest Eclipse2024 April 8 at 18:18:29.4 UTC
Greatest Duration2024 April 8 at 18:20:44.2 UTC
Ecliptic Conjunction2024 April 8 at 18:22:00.8 UTC
Equatorial Conjunction2024 April 8 at 18:37:18.9 UTC
Last Penumbral Internal Contact2024 April 8 at 18:50:23.9 UTC
Last Umbral Internal Contact2024 April 8 at 19:54:30.4 UTC
Last Central Line2024 April 8 at 19:55:38.1 UTC
Last Umbral External Contact2024 April 8 at 19:56:45.7 UTC
Last Penumbral External Contact2024 April 8 at 20:53:30.4 UTC

ParameterValue
Eclipse Magnitude1.05656
Eclipse Obscuration1.11631
Gamma0.34314
Sun Right Ascension01h11m36.9s
Sun Declination+07°35'29.4"
Sun Semi-Diameter15'58.2"
Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax08.8"
Moon Right Ascension01h10m57.5s
Moon Declination+07°53'55.5"
Moon Semi-Diameter16'36.3"
Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax1°00'56.6"
ΔT71.5 s

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
March 25
Descending node
April 8
Ascending node
Penumbral lunar eclipse
Lunar Saros 113		Total solar eclipse
Solar Saros 139

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2024

Metonic

Tzolkinex

Half-Saros

Tritos

Solar Saros 139

Inex

Triad

Inex series