10 Things You Need To Know About America’s Next Total Solar Eclipse In Just 365 Days

On April 8, 2024 a long totality will come to Mexico, the U.S. and Canada as a 100-120 miles wide eclipse path visits North America during a rare total solar eclipse—nature’s greatest show.

The last one, nicknamed the “Great American Eclipse,” visited the U.S. on August 21, 2017—just 6 years, 7 months and 18 days previously—so you could be forgiven for thinking this is nothing special. This is special. This is so special! Most people never have the chance to have a total solar eclipse visit their home country. Some Americans actually live within an hour’s drive of three total solar eclipses in just 28 years. That’s just ridiculously lucky.

However, eclipses of the Sun—while rare and addictive—are so often misunderstood.

Here’s everything you need to know about the next total solar eclipse in North America:

1. It’s called the ‘Great North American Eclipse’ for a reason

“Great American Eclipse” might be the tag-line, but this event crosses Mexico and Canada as well as the U.S. so this is an event for the whole continent. The greatest duration of totality will occur in Nazas near Durango, Mexico, though at 4 minutes 27 seconds it will only be a second more than at the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas. However, there are other reasons to go to Mexico …

2. Up to 50 million may witness the sight of their lives

This could be a landmark solar eclipse. As in 2017, most people won’t realise the importance of traveling to the path of totality. However, while 12 million already lived in the path of totality in 2017, this time it’s going to be 32 million. Since this time the path goes through heavily populated northeastern U.S. states—and only a few hours’ drive from the likes of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toronto—so some are suggesting that 50 million might be in position on the big day.

MORE FROM FORBES50 Million People May Gather For The ‘Greater American Eclipse,’ The Most Watched Event EverBy Jamie Carter

3. Totality will last twice as long as in 2017

Where were you on August 21, 2017? The last total solar eclipse visible in North America was a coast-to-coast event that saw a path of totality cross from Oregon to South Carolina, with the maximum point being in Cerulean, Kentucky where 2 minutes 40 seconds of totality occurred. This time the maximum point is at the tiny town of Nazas in Durango, Mexico, where 4 minutes 28 seconds totality will be experienced. However, the differentiation is less this time and only a second less totality is possible even in Texas, though it will markedly reduce as the path of totality tracks northeast.

4. The path of totality will be 10,000 miles long

The path of totality begins in the Pacific Ocean as an eclipsed sunrise before traveling northeast across North America. It first makes land at Mazatlán in Sinaloa, Mexico. It then moves through Durango and Coahuila before entering the U.S. at Texas. It then moves through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. In Canada, parts of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland will also experience totality. The path then departs to become a sunset eclipse in the Atlantic Ocean.

5. There’s no such thing as ‘99% totality’

On April 8, 2024 the entire continent will experience a partial solar eclipse during which some of the Sun will be obscured by the Moon. It’s not that unusual—it happened in the U.S. and Canada in June 2021. It’s not that interesting, seriously. The prize is totality, which only occurs when 100% of the Sun is covered. If you’re not within the path of totality—which will be 100-120 miles wide—you won’t see any of the very thing everyone is excited about: a naked-eye view for a few minutes of an eclipsed Sun. Even 99% partial solar eclipses—which must be viewed through solar eclipse glasses—are dull, dull, dull. So get to the path!

6. The ‘best’ places to be are (theoretically) in Mexico

The weather might ruin everything for those in the U.S. and Canada. Occuring during April—when winter is winding down and it’s tornado season in the midwest—the expert advice is to go to Mexico, either to Mazatlán on the Pacific coast or to Torreón on the arid Mexican Plateau. However, Texas is a good second choice, with about a 50% chance of clear skies, particularly on the Edwards Plateau—better known as Texas Hill Country in towns like Kerrville, Fredericksburg, Junction and Brady (though the latter—which statistically have the best weather prospects in theory—are very close to the northern limit if the path of totality). Average cloud climbs as the path heads northeast.

7. You need to make a plan now—but stay flexible

There is going to be a lot of talk about this total solar eclipse, the last in the U.S. for 21 years. So get planning—but make a flexible plan. Go onto popular hotel booking sites and you will see that if there are any properties left that have not yet been booked they will be going for astronomical prices. Don’t let that worry you—it always happens for eclipses (and the prices always drop closer to the event!). What also always happens is that local landowners turn over their land for makeshift campsites and/or festivals for the night before and after the eclipse. Besides, it’s best to have a very flexible plan and be ready to sleep in the car if necessary. If you can’t find a clear sky, the eclipse will not be a particularly impressive event. So that needs to be your priority. Keep an eye on expert eclipse weather advice in the days before and make your decision on where to watch the day before the eclipse.

It sounds harsh, but if you prioritise a comfy (and expensive) bed over a clear view of a total solar eclipse—and merely rely on luck—then you probably shouldn’t be an eclipse-chaser in the first place.

8. Expect a spectacular ‘spiky’ solar corona during totality

Our Sun has an 11 year cycle during which it waxes and wanes in activity. Solar maximum—when the number of sunspots peaks and our star is at its most active—will most likely occur in 2025. That’s great news for eclipse-chasers because it means a bigger, spikier solar corona in 2024 (besides, there is no total solar eclipse in 2025). During totality the Moon blocks the Sun almost perfectly and allows observers to see the Sun’s incredible corona. This hotter outer atmosphere of the Sun is usually completely invisible, lost in the Sun’s glare, and only during totality can it be seen—and only with the naked eye. It’s hands down the most incredible thing a human being can see.

9. There are two ‘crossroads of the eclipses’

America is living through a golden age of total solar eclipses—and the events of April 8, 2024 are but the second of three. It was preceded by the “Great American Eclipse” on August 21, 2027 and it will be followed by another, much longer eclipse on August 12, 2045. That creates two small regions in Illinois and Arkansas that will witness two very rare eclipses in just seven and 21 years, respectively. Given that the same place of Earth experiences totality once every 375 years, on average, places like Makanda, Carbondale and Cape Girardeau in southern Illinois and southeastern Missouri (2017 and 2024) and Hot Springs, Little Rock and Heavener in Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma (2024 and 2045) are each thrashing the celestial odds.

10. It’s preceded by a ‘ring of fire’ eclipse 177 days before

There will be no totality, but instead a pretty partial “ring of fire” annular solar eclipse lasting around 4 minutes 40 seconds will be visible from more than 20 of the best national parks in the U.S. southwest on October 14, 2023. Inside the 125 miles-wide “path of annularity” will be the likes of Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, Bryce Canyon National Park and Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah with high chances of clear skies on the Colorado Plateau. After crossing Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas the path then surges across Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Here’s everything you need to know about the annular solar eclipse in 2023.

Disclaimer: I am the editor of WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com and author of “The Complete Guide To The Great North American Eclipse of April 8, 2024.”

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.