You have probably already heard about the Solar Eclipse happening on April 8, 2024. A Solar Eclipse happens when the Sun, the Moon, and Earth align. The Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting a shadow over parts of Earth and blocking the Sun. A Total Solar Eclipse happens when the Moon blocks all of the Sun’s light. This will be a Total Solar Eclipse.
Are you in the Path of Totality? Will you be able to experience the darkness during totality? Many are traveling to be able to experience the totality and others are asking why this eclipse is such a big deal.
The importance of this Total Solar Eclipse
It's a Total Solar Eclipse!
The Sun, Moon, and Earth will be perfectly aligned
The moon’s shadow will be larger because the moon will be closer to Earth
It will be the longest U.S total solar eclipse since 1806
Totality will last longer, the longest duration will be four minutes and 28 seconds
A comet may be visible during totality
Totality will pass through 3 countries: Mexico, United States, and Canada
The sun is near solar maximum, so we’ll see a lot of sunspot activity
We won't see another Total Solar Eclipse in the United States for a while: the next one will be on March 30, 2033 and the only state that sees totality will be Alaska. On August 23, 2044 there will be an eclipse, coming down from Arctic Canada into North Dakota. The next “GREAT NORTH AMERICAN ECLIPSE” will happen on August 12, 2045.
If you get to experience the total or partial solar eclipse, are you ready? Have you purchased your Eclipse Solar Eyewear? You can not wear your regular sunglasses. Proper eclipse glasses will be a thousand times darker than your sunglasses. Your glasses need to to comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard. Your eclipse glasses should have "ISO 12312-2" printed inside.
Here's a list of approved American Astronomical Society sellers:
American Paper Optics
Rainbow Symphony
American PaperWear
Halo Eclipse Spectacles
Celestial Optical
Thousand Oaks Optical
Seymour Solar
DayStar Filters
So, what happens if you wear your sunglasses, polarized glasses, or no glasses at all and look at the eclipse? Looking at the solar eclipse without proper glasses could lead to Eclipse Blindness. The sun will burn your retina and since the retina doesn’t have pain receptors, you won’t feel the damage. You may have blurry vision, a headache, and/or a blind spot in one or both of your eyes. Your eyes may recover in 6 months or be permanently blinded.
My family is very excited about this event! We have purchased our Eclipse glasses. We have planned our lunch menu. We plan on having lunch either right before the eclipse or right after. Our menu consists of homemade sandwiches, Sun Chips, Sunkist and Moon Pies.
Wishing all students a fantastic solar eclipse experience at school! I do have this Solar Eclipse unit for little kids. It includes vocabulary cards, a mini book, a crown, and a certificate. Click here to get the Solar Eclipse and click here for the Eclipse solar.
I hope everyone enjoys the eclipse.
Happy planning,
Angie