2024 Total Solar Eclipse

Photo Credit: Tammy Baze, 2017

Earth has a biannual eclipse season in the spring and fall, for us to see an eclipse the moon must be in its new phase. That’s the only point where it is at the same position in the sky at the same time as the sun.

Solar eclipses, while not ever day occurrences are common enough, I can remember three in my lifetime. The upcoming eclipse on April 8th, 2024, is different from the ones we’ve seen previously. There are four types of solar eclipses: total, annular, partial, and hybrid. This solar eclipse is a total solar eclipse.

An eclipse can only happen during a brief period when the orbit of the sun and moon line up and the moon blocks part of the sun creating a shadow across the planet. During the spring eclipse season the sun is farther from earth than it is during the fall eclipse season.

A total eclipse occurs when the face of the sun is completely blocked.  It can only happen when the sun is a certain distance from earth, during a brief period of time and the moon is in it’s new phase.

An annular eclipse is when the moon is farther from earth in its own orbit making it appear smaller, this means it covers less of the sun casting a smaller shadow.

A partial eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and earth, but it is not quite in perfect alignment meaning only part of the moon is passing between the sun and earth.

A hybrid eclipse happens when because of the shape of the earth within the course of the eclipse it shifts between total and annular as they rotate.

This upcoming eclipse will be a total eclipse. There won’t be another like it in north America within the next fifty years. Other parts of the world will see totality in future eclipses but will require a plane ticket and passport to enjoy.

Photo Credit: NASA/Carla Thomas