Sky & Telescope - April 2024 - 48

APRIL 2024 OBSERVING
Celestial Calendar by Bob King
Time for Totality (Again)
This month's total solar eclipse is the first visible across the
U.S. since 2017 and the last of that nature until 2045.
T
hirty-two million. That's how many
people will be able to see a total
solar eclipse on April 8th from home.
Weather permitting, of course. Millions
more will fly, drive, or connive to make
sure they're within the approximately
185-kilometer-wide (115-mile-wide)
path of totality that stretches diagonally
across Mexico, 15 U.S. states, and the
Canadian Maritime provinces. Inside
this narrow ribbon of shadow, the lunar
disk will completely cover the Sun like a
tight-fitting lid on a pot, creating what
many consider the most moving sight in
nature. And for many, there's an extra
degree of motivation this time since the
next total eclipse to grace the contiguous
U.S. won't occur until August 22, 2044.
The Moon's umbral shadow first
touches down at sunrise in the Pacific
Ocean, but few will see it until it
reaches mainland Mexico near the
popular coastal resort city of Mazatlán,
where eclipse-watchers will experience
4 minutes 18 seconds of totality
starting around 11:08 a.m. local time.
Weather prospects here and in the
Mexican interior are excellent, with
mostly sunny skies being the norm in
early spring. A maximum eclipse of
4m 28s occurs near the small Mexican
town of Nazas, where the Sun has an
altitude of 70°.
As the shadow reaches the Texas
border, the chances of cloudy conditions
at eclipse time gradually increase,
rising from around 25% in Mazatlán to
around 45% at Eagle Pass, Texas, where
totality begins at 1:28 p.m. CDT and
lasts 4m 24s. The Moon's shadow next
darkens the large Texas cities of Austin
(1m 39s of totality, starting at 1:36 p.m.)
and Dallas (3m 53s at 1:41 p.m.).
Clouds along much of the eclipse
path in the Lone Star State are relatively
common in April, averaging around
55%. According to meteorologist Jay
Anderson, the best weather prospects
for the entire U.S. lie north of the
centerline from Junction to Brady in the
Texas Hill Country. Here, April cloudiness
hovers around 39%.
48 APRIL 2024 * SKY & TELESCOPE
60%
80%
90%
Northern limit of to
outhern limit of to
90%
tality
Path of Tot
tality
lipse
80%
al Ec
70%
70%
S
Santa Fe
Del Rio
Chihuahua
Piedras Negras
Sierra Mojada
Allende
Nueva Rosita
Monclova
Gómez Palacio
Canatlan
Torreón
Cuencame
Durango
Guadalajara
Minneapolis
Des Moines
Chicago
St. Louis
Carbondale
Poplar Bluff
Paragould
Conway
Little Rock
Texarkana
Jonesboro
Memphis
Cape Girardeau
Jackson
New Orleans
Omaha
Oklahoma City
Hot Springs
Sherman
Denton
Dallas
Ft. Worth
Killeen
Austin
San Marcos
San Antonio
Eagle Pass
Houston
Cleburne
Arlington
Waco
Temple
Tyler
Monterrey
Tampico
Mexico City
Milwauk
Koko
Indiana
Terre Haute
Evansville
Paducah
Nashville
Bloom
Atlant
Phoenix
Papasquiaro
Mazatlán
Escuinapa
Sky & Telescope - April 2024

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