Total solar eclipse April 8, 2024: What you'll see if you're outside the path of totality

When interpolating for a site between two cities, convert the times to the same time zone if they are not already. 

The closer an observer is to the path of totality, the larger the percentage of the sun's diameter that will be covered by the moon at greatest eclipse. As the table shows, the eclipse is practically total at Cincinnati (magnitude 0.993), but at Juneau the moon will reach only about one-sixteenth of a way across the solar disk (magnitude 0.064). At these two cities, maximum eclipse will occur at 3:09 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and at 10:33 a.m. Alaska Daylight Time, respectively. 

Of the cities listed in the table, Juneau will have the shortest eclipse duration, just 46 minutes. The longest eclipse will occur at Monterrey and Houston, two hours, 42 minutes.

Across the western half of the continent, mid-eclipse will occur during the late-morning or midday, while farther east the phenomenon will take place during early-to-mid afternoon, high in the south-southwest sky. 

Check out this fascinating animation of how the moon will appear to eclipse the sun across North America, courtesy of Larry Koehn of https://www.shadowandsubstance.com/ 

Eclipse effects 

Many ancient peoples were terrified by the sun's misshapen appearance in a partial eclipse, believing that the sun was diseased, under attack or foretelling woe to its watchers. 

If, for your area, the sun becomes at least 80 percent eclipsed, it will have the shape of an elongated crescent. Sunlight will then be coming only from the sun's redder limb regions; overall illumination on the ground will trend toward dusky. If you are within 110 miles (175 km) of the totality path, the moon will obscure 95 percent or more of the disk of the sun. The crescent sun will then shine with only 1/10 of the sun's normal total light, but this is less than a change than it sounds, since our eyes adapt readily to changing light levels. 

The illumination will be no darker than on a bright overcast day. The quality of the light, however, may become unearthly. A clear sky should turn an abnormally deep blue and purer; the landscape transforms to a slightly alien, silvery or metallic look, about like that of a clear day on the planet Mars. The temperature may drop perceptibly, and chill breezes might also begin to blow. 

Venus, shining at magnitude -3.9, should become easily visible 15 degrees to the lower right of the sun. Block the sun with your hand to search for it. Even Jupiter, fainter at magnitude -2.0, may be detectable 30 degrees to the sun's upper left if the air is very clear.

Shadows will also look a little odd — the sliver of remaining sun tends to produce sharper/crisper shadows. 

How to observe the sun safely (and what to look for)

Celestron EclipSmart 10x42 Solar Viewing Binoculars

<p>These aren't any ordinary binoculars from Celestron, but multi-coated solar safe binoculars with BK-7 optics and ISO 12312–2 compliant for solar observing. View the sun safely for <a href="/cats-d8c4vu/www.space.com/36941-solar-eclipse-eye-protection-guide.html" data-before-rewrite-localise="https://www.space.com/36941-solar-eclipse-eye-protection-guide.html">eclipse glasses" that are mounted in a cardboard frame; they only cost a couple of bucks. The filter that is typically used is made of a scratch resistant material called "black polymer" which creates an orange image of the sun. Another material that is sometimes used is an aluminized polyester film known as Mylar, which resembles tin foil, though much thinner. Using this filter, the sun looks pale blue. Just make sure that your glasses are certified by looking for "ISO 12312-2" printed on them. 

If using a telescope, firmly mount the filter in front of the objective (not the eyepiece) so it cannot be knocked off, blown away or ruptured with a finger. Do not look at the sun through any other materials such as regular sunglasses, smoked glass or photographic filters. These may pass dangerous amounts of invisible infrared or ultraviolet rays.  

Read more: Solar Eclipse Glasses: Where to buy the best, high-quality eyewear

Projection is the safest method 

Another method is to use an unfiltered telescope to project the sun's image onto a white screen or piece of cardboard or paper. This method is good for group viewing. A telescope can focus a large, sharp, bright image of the sun onto a screen mounted a foot or so behind the eyepiece. Don't look through or along the telescope while aiming it, and don't use more than a few inches of aperture. Otherwise, the intense heat could damage the instrument's internal parts. Cap the finder and keep eager spectators away from the eyepiece. 

Some might see a profusion of the peculiar shape of "pinhole" images of the eclipsed sun dappling the ground in the shadows cast by trees and bushes, or formed by crisscrossing the fingers of one hand with the other to produce small apertures between your fingers, beneath which eclipse images will be seen on the ground. Even the holes in a straw hat can be used to project numerous small images of the eclipsed sun. 

A 1-millimeter hole in a piece of cardboard or aluminum foil will cast a fairly clear solar image on a white surface three feet away.

Indoors, closed Venetian blinds in a south-facing window may produce rows of eclipse images, where sunlight passes through small openings. Also, a small hole pierced in a dark shade will cast a sizable image on a wall, floor, or screen. Thus, even a person confined indoors can watch this celestial phenomenon. 

Even more effective is to set up a "pinhole reflector" made from a plane mirror, and a piece of paper (preferably dark colored) covering all but a spot about as large as a dime. The mirror is then mounted to reflect sunlight onto a nearby wall. The image will be one inch across for every 9 feet from the mirror. So (as an example) at a distance of 54 feet, a solar image will measure six-inches across. The reflected solar image thus formed can be studied close up by a large audience. Making the hole bigger increases the brightness but makes the image fuzzier; making it smaller improves the sharpness but makes the image appear dimmer. A large lump of modeling clay will hold the mirror at any angle and allows it to be re-aimed slightly as the sun moves. 

Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmers' Almanac and other publications. 

Skywatching Columnist

Joe Rao is Space.com's skywatching columnist, as well as a veteran meteorologist and eclipse chaser who also serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, Sky & Telescope and other publications. Joe is an 8-time Emmy-nominated meteorologist who served the Putnam Valley region of New York for over 21 years. You can find him on Twitter and YouTube tracking lunar and solar eclipses, meteor showers and more. To find out Joe's latest project, visit him on Twitter.