By: Jess Holmes (@realtruthcactus)
On April 8th, 2024, a total solar eclipse will pass across the North American skyline, beginning at Mexico’s Pacific coast at around 11:07 a.m. PDT and ending in Maine at 4:35 ADT (NASA’s Eclipse Explorer, 2024). This has been the second solar eclipse within the last decade, the most recent passing over North America on August 21st, 2017, and will be the last until 2044 in North America. This fascinating astronomical phenomenon is of great interest to many budding young astronomers, graduate level physicists, and biologists alike. So here are all the facts – fun and interesting -you need to know about the approaching solar eclipse.
Digging Into Details
A solar eclipse is an astronomical phenomenon in which the elliptical orbit of the moon around the earth and the earth around the sun align in just the right manner so that the moon is between the earth and the sun (see Figure 2 above) (Hocken et al., 2024).
Interestingly enough, this phenomenon occurs with a measured regularity – every 18 months or so – though the location on Earth in which the phenomenon is observable changes. This is similar in variation to a lunar eclipse, in which the earth is perfectly between the sun and the moon, causing the earth’s shadow to be cast upon Luna, dimming it and even causing it to adopt a coppery-red hue (Candey, 2013). While it may seem like these two phenomena should happen with more regularity, their rarity can be ascribed to the uneven shape of the orbit of the Earth and the moon (both awkward ellipses rather than perfect circles), the tilt upon their axes, their precession (aka the wobble on their axes), and the uneven angle of their orbits. Twice a month, the orbits of the Earth and the moon will intersect, once at the ascending node and once at the descending node. If this intersection just so happens to occur during a full moon, a lunar eclipse will take place, or if it occurs during a new moon, a solar eclipse will take place (Editors of EarthSky, 2024).
There are five notable phases during a solar eclipse. Phase one, or first contact, occurs when the moon first becomes visible over the disk of the sun, as though someone had taken a nice bite out of Sol.
During the second phase, totality slowly begins as the moon blots out the entire disk of the sun. In this phase, observers are cast within Luna’s umbra – the darkest part of the moon’s shadow – and Baily’s beads become visible just before totality.
The third phase is totality or the maximum eclipse, in which the moon appears to completely cover the sun. Here, the sun’s corona, the outermost part of the sun’s atmosphere, is the only part of our star left visible to the naked eye. This is when the most unique and visible changes begin to occur. Anyone around during the 2017 eclipse will remember those queer moments in which the earth’s temperature appeared to drop dramatically as the world became dim and all birds and animals alike ceased in their progress.
Phases four and five are a reverse procession of phases one and two. Bailey’s beads become briefly visible once more as the moon slowly starts to uncover the sun. Then, slowly but surely, the star is once again revealed, as these galactic bodies are playing peek-a-boo with the eager and waiting humans down on earth.
Stranger Things Of the Solar Eclipse
In the past, solar eclipses have been an exciting opportunity to study unusual physical and biological phenomena. Quaker Sir Arthur Eddington, who set out to prove the phenomenon of gravitational lensing, was only able to observe the phenomenon itself by chasing solar eclipses across the globe until he was able to observe the phenomenon directly during an extremely long, 7-minute eclipse in May of 1919 (Metaxas, 2023). Eclipse soundscapes are another interesting field of study in which researchers seek to capture the change in behavior of the local fauna via audio recording (ARISA Labs, 2024). For scientists in this field, this is a unique opportunity to both study sound and certain behaviors of local wildlife.
However, even stranger events are anticipated to occur during this year’s total eclipse. One of these strange phenomena is the awakening of a two broods of cicada, 13-year cicadas (Magicicada tredecim, M. neotredecim, M. tredecassini, and M. tredecula) 17-year cicadas (Magicicada septendecim, M. cassini, and M. septendecula) (Bartels, 2024). Periodical cicadas lay their eggs deep in the earth, the offspring of which do not emerge from their ground hovels until they have matured into their teen years and are ready for mating. Usually, these broods alternate in their emergence as their numbered years of maturation are off and on. And yet, incredibly, both of these broods will be experiencing their emergence this year, an event that has not occurred since 1803, when Thomas Jefferson was president (Dangerfield, 2024). While this emergence was anticipated later in April, some scientists have speculated that the oncoming eclipse could have an impact on this timeline. The swarm of cicadas that is anticipated to arise near the time of the eclipse has a somewhat apocalyptic feel to it, especially as cicadas bear a fair resemblance to their more aggressive cousin, the locust.
Similar apocalyptic analogies have been drawn to the Madrid faultline and the myriad of storms that have plagued the east coast and middle America this past winter. Regardless of the validity of these claims, the coincidence of these events is interesting and worth keeping an eye on for those interested in natural events.
Governing Lights
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. – Genesis 1:14-19
Eclipses are an exciting time to be outside and observe the wonder of God’s creation. As a creationist myself, for me, it is a reminder of the awesome power of the God we worship. For a moment, let us pause from the business of our day and observe the unique creation in the sky. Be it observing the phenomenon itself, experiencing the strange and otherworldly darkness, or seeing the light return once again, eclipses are an exciting event to witness. Since we won’t see another one in North America until 2044, this is one event you will not want to miss.
Author’s Note: While observing astronomical phenomena is fun and exciting, please do not forget to wear the proper eye protection during a solar eclipse to protect your eyes from photothermal injury. Never look directly at the sun, even during a solar eclipse. Doing so can cause permanent eye damage known as solar retinopathy. This condition harms the light-sensitive cells in your retina, leading to decreased vision and blind spots. To safely enjoy a solar eclipse, use specially designed eclipse glasses with proper certifications.
References
ARISA Labs. (2024). What is the Eclipse Soundscapes Project studying?. Eclipse Soundscapes. https://eclipsesoundscapes.org/es-csp-science/
Aziz, S. (2024, March 22). Total solar eclipse: All you need to know about the rare celestial event. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/10289427/total-solar-eclipse-2024-canada/
Bartels, M. (2024, March 11). A double emergence of periodical cicadas isn’t cicada-geddon-it’s a Marvel. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-double-brood-of-periodical-cicadas-will-emerge-in-2024/
Candey, R. (Ed.). (2013). Eclipses. NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/moon/eclipses/
Dangerfield, K. (2024, March 17). Billions of cicadas emerging amid rare double brood. will Canadians get to see? – national. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/10356293/cicadas-rare-double-brood-event-canada/
Editors of EarthSky. (2024, March 22). Why is there no eclipse every full and New Moon?. EarthSky. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/why-isnt-there-an-eclipse-every-full-moon/#:~:text=A%20solar%20eclipse%20happens%20at,between%20the%20sun%20and%20moon.
Fienberg, R. (2023, August 10). Shapes of the Sun & Moon In & Out of Eclipse. Solar Eclipse Across America. https://eclipse.aas.org/eclipse-america/sun-moon-shapes
Fox, K., & Frazier, S. (2024). 2024 total Eclipse. NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/
Hocken, V., Kher, A., & Jones, G. (2024). What is a total solar eclipse?. What Is a Total Solar Eclipse, and How Long Do They Last? https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/total-solar-eclipse.html
Major, J. (2021, August 21). Bagging Baily’s beads. Lights in the Dark. https://lightsinthedark.com/2017/08/24/bagging-bailys-beads/
Metaxas, E. (2023). Is Atheism Dead? REGNERY PUBLISHING.
NASA’s Eclipse Explorer. (2024). Total Solar Eclipse 2024: Where & when. NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when/