Photo Credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
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If you live in Cleveland, without question, you’re anxiously awaiting April 8, which is, lo and behold, only a month away.
Normally, those in Cleveland would be counting down the days to the Cleveland Guardians’ home opener on April 8, when they’ll play host to the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field.
This year, there’s a bit more excitement, since those in Northeast Ohio will view a total solar eclipse, a rare event indeed.
On Monday, April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada, beginning over the South Pacific Ocean.
If the weather cooperates, the first location in continental North America that will experience totality is Mexico’s Pacific coast at around 11:07 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.
In addition to Ohio, other states in the path of totality (total eclipse) include: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Portions of Canada will also be treated to the total eclipse.
San Antonio, Dallas, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Montreal are a sampling of cities located in the path of totality. People in some of the larger cities in the U.S., including Chicago and New York City, can drive just a few hours to get to the narrow zone where the total eclipse can be seen.
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the sun.
A total eclipse of the sun in a particular location happens once every 375 years, on average. The last time Cleveland experienced totality was in 1806 (often called “Tecumseh's Eclipse”), if you can imagine that; the next one will be in 2444.
Reportedly, the next time Ohio will be in the path of a total eclipse is in 2099.
Sarbani Basu, professor of astronomy at Yale University, noted that “Solar eclipses are not uncommon, two to five solar eclipses happen each year, with a total eclipse taking place every 18 months or so.” “The problem,” Basu explained, “is that whether you can see it depends on where on Earth you are. The chances of a total solar eclipse being seen at one particular location is miniscule.”
Basu additionally explained that a total eclipse is the only way we can see the solar corona with the naked eye. The corona is the vague outer layer of the sun, which is usually so dim you can’t see it without an eclipse.
Photo Credit: GreatAmericanEclipse.com
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Astronomers tell us Cleveland is almost exactly on the centerline in the path of totality and claim the total solar eclipse’s midpoint will take place at 3:15 p.m. EST.
To be more precise, “At the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, totality will begin at 15:13:46 (3:13 pm, 46 seconds) and end at 15:17:35 (3:17 pm, 35 seconds) for a total time in darkness of 3 minutes and 50 seconds, according to Angela Speck, professor of physics and astronomy at The College of Sciences at the University of Texas at San Antonio in Texas.
Speck said it will start about 1.5 minutes earlier in Sandusky and less than a minute later in Mentor.
Just how dark will it get at 3: 15 pm?
According to Douglas Clowe, professor of physics and astronomy at Ohio University, the darkness won’t exactly get pitch black, but will look very similar to about 30 minutes after sunset. “Dark enough,” Clowe tells me, “to see the brighter stars if the sky is clear (and you're not in downtown Cleveland with all the lights) but not as dark as full nighttime during a new moon.”
And it will be dark enough to see Venus, Jupiter and Saturn, according to Gerard Williger, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Louisville.
There’s nearly a 100 % chance there will be a total solar eclipse at 3:13 pm in downtown Cleveland on April 8. What can’t be predicted, especially at this early stage, is the weather.
If you have cloudy skies during totality, you won't see the totally eclipsed Sun.
Historically, the National Weather Service reports that the chances of it being completely overcast at 3 pm on April 8 is about 43%, while the chance of there being no clouds between the spectator and the sun at the time of totality is only about 39%.
The Cleveland Guardians originally scheduled their home opener at Progressive Field for 4:10 p.m. on April 8. Because of the solar eclipse, they have moved it to 5:10 pm. The gates are scheduled to open at 2 p.m., at which time solar glasses will be passed out to fans by the Guardians’ Game Day staff — so that fans can view the eclipse at 3:15 p.m. and still be in place for the first pitch at 5:10 pm.
Clowe said the eclipse should be completed by about 4:28 p.m. in downtown Cleveland. “If you tried playing right after totality ended, you'd get some weird shadows that might cause players to have a harder time seeing the ball.”
“Even by 4:10 pm,’’ he said, “that's mostly over with the moon only taking out a small part of the sun. After 4:28, you're back to normal sunlight, you'll just have the moon close to the sun if you look up.”
So, let’s hope Mother Nature is on Cleveland’s side on this historic day; it will be quite an event.
Photo Credit: The Exploratorium
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According to Nick Anderson, senior astronomer at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, “A total solar eclipse is one of nature's grandest spectacles. To start, it's a feast for the senses. As more and more of the solar disk is obscured by the moon, the changes in light, color and shadow are unlike anything you’ve ever encountered before and there’s a definite chill in the air. The sky then darkens dramatically with the onset of totality, and the brightest stars and planets pop into view in the middle of the day.”
“Most exciting of all,” Anderson explained, “we get to see features of the sun that are normally hidden from view by its brilliant glare — the sun's radiant outer atmosphere, the corona, surrounding the pitch-black disk of the moon. It’s difficult to convey just how beautiful it is. I was floored when we led our trip into the path back in 2017.”
Clearly, people have gotten the memo just how spectacular viewing the total solar eclipse in Cleveland will be on April 8.
The anticipation is building to a fevered pitch, counting the days, when people storm into Cleveland from various parts of the country to capture the momentous event for themselves.
If you don’t live in the Cleveland area or aren’t planning to stay with friends or relatives, finding a place to stay overnight might be a challenge.
Nick Urig, senior manager of public relations at Destination Cleveland (the convention and visitors bureau for Greater Cleveland) informs me that “bookings, hotels and vacation rentals are expected to be very full or sold out for the event. Currently, there appears to be remaining availability at suburban hotels and short-term rentals in the region.”
A number of astronomers I communicated with strongly advise viewers of the eclipse to stay overnight in Cleveland on April 8, if at all possible. The reason being, traffic will be thick and heavily congested immediately after the eclipse when visitors hope to head home. Lengthy traffic jams will likely be the order of the day.
Not only are hotel rooms practically filled to capacity, Urig additionally tells me that the room rates are much higher than the average April day of previous years.
NASA TV will be broadcasting from Cleveland, along with other national media outlets, making Cleveland the cool place to be under the sun.
Destination Cleveland estimates that there will be somewhere close to 200,000 day and overnight visitors to Cuyahoga County.
Which brings us to another thorny problem: congested traffic in downtown Cleveland.
With the Guardians’ home opener already sold out (their 31st consecutive sellout) and spectators in a mad race to position themselves for the ideal spot to view the eclipse, just how difficult will it be to navigate through downtown Cleveland on the day of the eclipse?
The City of Cleveland launched a website on March 21, which features, among other information, traffic restrictions in downtown Cleveland on April 8, the day of the Total Solar Eclipse.
It's truly startling to think how far science has come over the centuries.
Today, meteorologists seem to have trouble predicting how the weather will be over the weekend, but, amazingly, astronomers are able predict solar eclipses far into the future down to the second.
Only in the past 300 years have astronomers been able to predict solar eclipses with such precision.
Thanks to the developments in mathematics and computers, scientists are able to feed the current positions and speeds of Earth and the moon into complex equations, and then program a computer to "integrate" these equations forward or backward in time to calculate the relative positions of the moon and sun as seen from the vantage point of Earth.
Remarkable!
It wasn’t always that way.
According to Glenn Starkman, professor of physics at Case Western Reserve University, people used to think eclipses were portents of disaster. “Now we know that they are just products of coincidence in the size of the moon versus the size of its orbit around the Earth.”
Thomas J. O'Grady, an observational astronomy instructor for Ohio University, provided me with a quick overview of the doom and disaster associated with eclipses among ancient civilizations.
“Very early on,” O’Grady said, “people would have been caught off guard by such a darkening of the sky in the daytime. If they were a culture that held the sun in high esteem – and many did – it would likely have been seen as a threat. Maybe the sun god was being swallowed by a dragon or something. People might beat hollow logs or drums, start fires or shoot arrows into the air to chase off the monster – always with great success.”
In another case, Hi and Ho, (the so-called “drunk astronomers”) were executed (on orders from the emperor) for failing to predict an eclipse over China in 2137 BC.
Former U.S. presidents were even fascinated by the eclipses. John Quincy Adams reportedly climbed Beacon Hill in Boston to view the “blazing annular eclipse” on April 3, 1791. “Hurt my eyes much by observing the Eclipse without a glass,” Adams wrote in his diary.
A frequently told story by historians and astronomers is that Nat Turner, the enslaved African-American preacher, once had a vision that he would rise up against his slave holders. He firmly believed he would receive a sign that would give him the green light to ignite his insurrection.
O’Grady tells me that Turner “interpreted an eclipse of the sun in August of 1831 as that sign and he launched his ill-fated attempt to free his people.”
Undoubtedly, as the eclipse appears on April 8, there will be plenty of people snapping pictures and taking videos with their cameras.
A number of astronomers, however, suggest people shouldn’t worry about the pictures so much, but rather, to just enjoy the moment, it will be a memorable moment that they’ll never likely experience again in their lifetime.
Besides, astronomers point out, you won't be able to get decent close-up photos of the eclipse. But if you insist on using your camera, the recommendation is to use your camera in video mode.
As Alex Filippenko, professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, told me, “Witnessing a total solar eclipse in person is a magical experience, one that will leave a lasting impression on the viewer. It's a life-changing experience for many people, allowing them to experience a truly unique and beautiful natural phenomenon. But be sure to see the total eclipse; watching just the partial eclipse pales in comparison.”
NASA advises viewers against using regular sunglasses. It doesn’t matter how dark your sunglasses are, they’re not safe for viewing the sun. Safe solar viewers, NASA says, are thousands of times darker and ought to comply with the ISO certified 12312-2 international standard.
Most importantly, NASA warns, “do not look at the sun through a camera lens, telescope, binoculars or any other optical device while wearing eclipse glasses or using a handheld solar viewer — the concentrated solar rays will burn through the filter and cause serious eye injury.”
Happy viewing; and Go Guardians!
---Bill Lucey
March 4, 2024
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Viewing the Total Solar Eclipse in Cleveland on April 8, 2024
- Partial eclipse begins: 1:59 p.m.
- Totality begins: 3:13 p.m.
- Maximum totality: 3:15 p.m.
- Totality ends: 3:17 p.m.
- Partial eclipse ends: 4:29 p.m.
Source: NASA
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NOTE: One interesting historical footnote. Each year the moon recedes by a few centimeters in distance from Earth in its orbit.
At some time, in the distant future, when the moon perfectly aligns between the Earth and the sun, it will not appear large enough to block out the light from the surface of the sun and it will then be an annular eclipse.
“From that time forward,” O’Grady tells me, “there will no longer be total eclipses of the sun visible from the surface of the Earth. Significance should fall off greatly at that time. But it is hundreds of millions or a billion years off in the distance.”
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Total Solar Eclipse Resources
Countdown to April 8, 2024 (Cleveland Museum of Natural History)
Total Eclipse Viewing Locations in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 8, 2024 (National Eclipse Website)
Solar Eclipse Fun Facts (University of Dallas)
Solar Eclipse Across America (American Astronomical Society, ASA)
Space Weather Prediction Center (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
NASA Eclipse Website (Solar Eclipse Historical Timeline dating back to 2000 BCE)
Solar Eclipse Folklore, Myths, and Superstitions (The Old Farmer’s Almanac)
Interactive Path of the Upcoming Total Solar Eclipse
The Great American Total Solar Eclipse of April 8, 2024 (A YouTube lecture by Alex Filippenko, Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley)
*Bonus Total Eclipse Viewing
View Bonnie Tyler singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” at the 1984 Grammy Awards
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