The Rare Solar Eclipse That Stopped a Nation

On April 8, 2024, the Moon slid directly between the Earth and the Sun, casting a path of total darkness across Mexico, the United States and Canada. For a few minutes, birds went quiet, temperatures dropped and crowds cheered.

A path across the continent

The path of totality ran from Mexico's Pacific coast through Texas and up across the Midwest and Northeast, before crossing into Canada. Tens of millions of people lived within the path, and many more traveled to see it. Outside the path, the rest of the contiguous U.S. saw a partial eclipse.

Why it mattered

Total eclipses let scientists study the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, which is usually hidden by the Sun's glare. Researchers launched instruments, flew aircraft along the path and gathered citizen-science data from across the country.

Watching safely

Looking directly at the Sun is only safe during the brief moment of totality. At all other times, viewers need certified eclipse glasses or indirect methods such as pinhole projectors.

How a total eclipse works

A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes directly between the Sun and Earth and completely covers the Sun's disk. It is possible because of a cosmic coincidence: the Sun is about 400 times wider than the Moon but also about 400 times farther away, so they appear nearly the same size in our sky.

Only people inside the narrow path of the Moon's darkest shadow — the umbra — see totality. Everyone else sees a partial eclipse.

1. Aug. 21, 2017The “Great American Eclipse” crosses the U.S. from Oregon to South Carolina.
2. Apr. 8, 2024Totality sweeps from Mexico through Texas, the Midwest and Northeast into Canada.
3. Aug. 23, 2044Next total eclipse visible from the contiguous U.S., over parts of Montana and North Dakota.
4. Aug. 12, 2045A coast-to-coast total eclipse crosses the United States.

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