A close-up view of the Sun’s disk during a total eclipse reveals fiery solar prominences. | View … [+]
The next “Great American Eclipse” is now just about 20 months away, and if the experience of the last time a total solar eclipse was visible from the contiguous United States was any indication, it’s never too early to begin strategizing how to get yourself in the path of totality at the pivotal moment on April 8, 2024.
The last such eclipse in the summer of 2017 carved a path of totality where the rare total solar eclipse could best be viewed from Oregon through states including Wyoming, Tennessee and South Carolina.
My family made the long trek from New Mexico to Wyoming to witness the rare celestial phenomenon in person. It was easily the most traffic a number of two-lane roads in central rural Wyoming had seen in decades, if not ever. The traffic backed up and when a fatal motorcycle accident added emergency responders to the mix, we found ourselves at a near standstill on the way home.
But the truth is that we didn’t much mind because we had witnessed a truly once-in-a-lifetime bit of solar geometry earlier that day. The world grew temporarily dim in the middle of the day, the temperature dropped noticeably and the sun turned a sizzling darkened outline of itself.
You can get a sense of the experience from the copious photos and videos available, but you won’t be surprised to learn that they don’t do it full justice. A high school science teacher in our group spent a full minute repeatedly shouting “it’s just incredible,” while a group of small kids instinctively ran off to frolic in the delightful midday dusk.
SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 28: Watercolour painted by Paul Jacob Naftel who was employed as official artist … [+]
Still, we could have done without the afternoon spent in traffic in the middle of nowhere on the trip home. Eclipse collectors have already begun making their travel accommodations for 2024, so if you want to join them and maximize your comfort while doing so it’s time to start planning now.
NASA is among the many sources online that provide a convenient list of locations along the path of totality, which stretches from Texas to Maine this time around.
You might be under the impression that another total solar eclipse is just around the corner after 2024, given that the gap between the last one in the US was less than seven years. But the truth is that this is an unusual occasion in which we’re getting two shots at totality in less than a decade.
The 2017 eclipse was the first total solar eclipse visible in the lower 48 of the 21st century, and after 2024 you’ll have to wait twenty more years for your next opportunity, and the path of totality will pass over only two states (Montana and North Dakota).
