A solar eclipse will be visible across North America on April 8.
Everyone in the U.S. will see at least a partial solar eclipse, but only those within the 115-mile-wide (185 kilometers) path of totality will witness the sun’s face completely blocked by the moon’s shadow for up to 4 minutes, 28 seconds.
Solar eclipse glasses are plentiful and inexpensive. Buy them before stocks run low, and get them only from this list of verified suppliers of safe solar filters and viewers on the American Astronomical Society’s AAS Solar Eclipse Task Force website. Only then can you be sure that they comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard, which means they reduce visible sunlight to safe and comfortable levels and block all but a tiny fraction of solar UV and IR radiation.
Do NOT use sunglasses, solar filters meant for cameras and telescopes, smoked glass, welder’s goggles, photographic or X-ray film, potato-chip bags or DVDs to view the partially eclipsed sun. None of these methods are safe.
You can use solar eclipse glasses to look at the sun anytime. Typically, however, solar eclipse glasses are used to view the sun from the moment the moon starts to cross it — a time known as first contact. You must use solar eclipse glasses to look at the eclipse whenever the sun is only partially covered, which is the entire time on April 8 for most of North America.
Although the path of totality on April 8 will include several major cities and metropolitan areas, it crosses a lot of backcountry. Many people will chase clear skies, which could take them to areas they hadn’t planned on visiting. Remote parts of Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, in particular, are short on facilities and gas stations. So bring everything you need, including a full fuel tank and extra food, water, cash and toilet paper.
In April, you can expect the unexpected, with everything from snow in the Northeast to tornadoes in the Midwest. In remote areas of the northeastern U.S. and Canada, the mountains, lakes and forests may provide a beautiful backdrop, but conditions in the backcountry that time of year can be difficult.
If you decide to watch the eclipse from a city sidewalk — perhaps even during a lunch break at work — then watch out. Wandering into roads and other dangerous situations is easier than you might think when you’re looking through solar eclipse glasses. The best, easiest and safest eclipse-observing site is an open space or park, which will likely have a much better view of the eclipse than city streets, where buildings could easily block the view.
The biggest cities inside the path are Mazatlán and Torreón, Mexico; San Antonio, Austin and Dallas, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; Hamilton, Ontario; Montreal Quebec.
