On April 8, 2024, a historic total solar eclipse will cast a shadow over parts of the United States, prompting a mass travel event to the path of totality — from Texas to Maine and several states and cities in between.
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth and, for a short time, completely blocks the face of the sun, according to NASA.
The track of the moon’s shadow across Earth’s surface is called the path of totality, and to witness the April 8 total solar eclipse, viewers must be within the 115-mile-wide path. To discover when to see the solar eclipse in totality or the partial eclipse in locations across the U.S. outside of the path, check out NASA’s Eclipse Explorer tool.
In the U.S., 31 million people already live inside the path of totality, bringing the celestial phenomenon to their doorsteps, Michael Zeiler, expert solar eclipse cartographer at GreatAmericanEclipse.com told ABC News.
Eclipse chasers, or umbraphiles, are individuals who will do almost anything, and travel almost anywhere, to see totality, according to the American Astronomical Society.
“There’s a very active community of solar eclipse chasers and we will go to any reasonable lengths to see solar eclipses anywhere in the world,” Zeiler said. “All of us are united in pursuing the unimaginable beauty of a total solar eclipse.”
