On Monday, April 8th, 2024, North Americans could view a total or partial solar eclipse, depending on where they live. A solar eclipse is when, during a full moon, the moon passes between the Sun and Earth while it orbits it. As a result of that happening, the Sun is blocked, but its corona shows for a short period around the moon. According to NASA Space Place, “The Sun’s corona is the outermost part of the Sun’s atmosphere. The corona is usually hidden by the bright light of the Sun’s surface.” A solar eclipse is different from a lunar eclipse because the moon is still full during a lunar eclipse, but the Sun and Moon are on opposite sides of the Earth. They are on the same side of the Earth during a solar eclipse.
The eclipse on April 8th lasted for around two and a half hours, but the totality of it (the period where the eclipse was total) lasted about 4.5 minutes. The eclipse began in the Mexico/Texas area and ended in the Maine area. Dallas in Texas, Buffalo in New York, and Burlington in Vermont were the cities that had a total view of the eclipse. However, the list goes on. California was one state that had a partial view of the eclipse, meaning we could not have experienced the totality of it. On another topic, you would have needed a solar viewer or any solar eclipse glasses to view the eclipse’s totality. It is important to protect your eyes during the total eclipse because you could have sustained permanent damage to your eyes’ retina, the back of it from contact with the sun.
7th grader Naisha Singh says that she was not excited to see the eclipse because “a lot of people were making a big deal about it.” Also, she was able to see the eclipse through glasses and not by looking at photos. Furthermore, during the eclipse, they saw black, orange, and yellow. Lastly, her overall opinion was “that it was fun to watch, but it could have been better.” In summary, the solar eclipse of April 8th was an amazing opportunity to see a solar eclipse, especially because some people only see a total solar eclipse once in their lifetime, with the next one happening in around 2045.