Current:Home > ScamsMonday’s solar eclipse path of totality may not be exact: What to do if you are on the edge-LoTradeCoin
Monday’s solar eclipse path of totality may not be exact: What to do if you are on the edge
View Date:2024-12-23 17:00:42
A new map is projecting that the path of totality for Monday's solar eclipse may be narrower than experts previously believed. But if you're right on the edge of the path, don't go changing your plans just yet.
New amateur calculations suggest that widely-accepted path could be off by as much as just a few hundred yards. The potential shift in the eclipse's path is so miniscule, in fact, that a NASA spokesperson told the Detroit Free Press that the U.S. space agency won't be making any alterations to its own calculations.
So, even if the new calculation is more accurate, it’s unlikely to matter much for most of the millions of skygazers who hope to witness the first total solar eclipse in North America in seven years.
Still, there are some things you should know if you a teetering on the edge of the total eclipse's path.
Don't stop looking up after the eclipse:3 other celestial events visible in April
NASA is not changing path calculations
The new eclipse calculations come courtesy of John Irwin, a member of the team of amateur astronomers analyzing the celestial event for the Besselian Elements.
According to the group's website, Irwin re-examined the eclipse path with "adjustments that account for the topographic elevation, both around the limb of the moon and on the surface of the Earth." These new calculations have slightly shifted the solar eclipse's path of totality, which may raise some alarms just days before the 115-mile-wide eclipse passes from southwest to northeast over portions of Mexico, the United States and Canada.
If Irwin is correct, some places, including several cities in Ohio, may now miss out on totality, while other places, including some additional cities in Texas, may now experience it.
But don't fret too much: Not only is the new analysis not yet peer-reviewed, but NASA told the Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, that its predictions have not changed.
However, NASA spokesman Tiernan Doyle acknowledged "a tiny but real uncertainty about the size of the sun" could lead to a narrower eclipse path.
What does Irwin's new path of totality show?
The red lines shown below represent the original path of totality, while the orange lines show the path updated with Irwin's new data.
While you can click on the embedded map to see the details, Forbes identified 15 areas whose place on the path may have been altered in some form.
Your best bet? Just to be safe, those ardent about witnessing totality should move as far into its projected shadow away from the edges as possible.
"Traveling toward the center of the path of totality, even a mile or two, will quickly increase the length of totality that people can see," Doyle told the Free Press.
What else to know about the April 8 eclipse
Hundreds of cities in 13 states are on the path of totality for this year's total solar eclipse, which for those in the United States, will begin in Eagle Pass, Texas and end in Lee, Maine.
You won't want to miss it, as this is the last such eclipse in North America until 2044.
And don't forget: While a total solar eclipse offers sky-gazers the rare opportunity to witness the display with the naked eye, solar eclipse glasses are still needed until it's safe to do so. Certified solar eclipse glasses are crucial for spectators to avoid the sun's retina-damaging rays.
But when the moon moves completely in front of the sun and blocks its light, you'll know it's safe to remove them for a short period of time.
As you make your eclipse-viewing plans, this guide should help you find some last-minute eclipse glasses, while these interactive maps should help you chart the time and duration for when totality would occur in cities along the path.
Contributing: Mariyam Muhammad, the Cincinnati Enquirer
veryGood! (31)
Related
- Republican David Schweikert wins reelection in affluent Arizona congressional district
- The migrant match game
- Save 40% On Top-Rated Mascaras From Tarte, Lancôme, It Cosmetics, Urban Decay, Too Faced, and More
- Drones show excavation in suspected Gilgo beach killer's back yard. What's next?
- West Virginia expands education savings account program for military families
- Peter Thomas Roth Flash Deal: Get $133 Worth of Skincare for Just $43
- Western tribes' last-ditch effort to stall a large lithium mine in Nevada
- Swimming Against the Tide, a Retired Connecticut Official Won’t Stop Fighting for the Endangered Atlantic Salmon
- Benny Blanco Reveals Selena Gomez's Rented Out Botanical Garden for Lavish Date Night
- The missing submersible raises troubling questions for the adventure tourism industry
Ranking
- Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly are expecting their first child together
- Maria Menounos Proudly Shares Photo of Pancreatic Cancer Surgery Scars
- Boy, 5, dies after being run over by father in Indiana parking lot, police say
- Inside Clean Energy: The US’s New Record in Renewables, Explained in Three Charts
- Michelle Obama Is Diving Back into the Dating World—But It’s Not What You Think
- Supreme Court kills Biden's student debt plan in a setback for millions of borrowers
- With Fossil Fuel Companies Facing Pressure to Reduce Carbon Emissions, Private Equity Is Buying Up Their Aging Oil, Gas and Coal Assets
- Take 20% Off the Cult Favorite Outdoor Voices Exercise Dress in Honor of Its 5-Year Anniversary
Recommendation
-
'Climate change is real': New York parks employee killed as historic drought fuels blazes
-
Mazda, Toyota, Nissan, Tesla among 436,000 vehicles recalled. Check car recalls here.
-
Chad Michael Murray's Wife Sarah Roemer Is Pregnant With Baby No. 3
-
Inside Clean Energy: Solid-State Batteries for EVs Make a Leap Toward Mass Production
-
25 monkeys caught but more still missing after escape from research facility in SC
-
Inside Clean Energy: What’s Hotter than Solar Panels? Solar Windows.
-
The Sweet Way Cardi B and Offset Are Celebrating Daughter Kulture's 5th Birthday
-
Mazda, Toyota, Nissan, Tesla among 436,000 vehicles recalled. Check car recalls here.