Imagine living back in the caveman days, and all of a sudden in the middle of the afternoon you look up and see the sun slowly beginning to disappear. That would be nothing short of terrifying. This probably explains many of the ancient beliefs that the "Gods" are unhappy and are letting us know during an eclipse. Thankfully, we have moved on from sacrificing animals to appease the "Gods" for things such as this.
More recently, we continue to talk about eclipses and their effects on us. “These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us," Gloucester told Edmund in the first act of Shakespeare's King Lear, predicting a time of strife when "love cools, friendship falls off, brothers divide."
In this issue of the Tripod Traveler, I will try to remove some of the nonsense, marketing, and superstition from this eclipse using facts and a little bit of humor. Let's go.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and earth, in some places it is only partially blocked and in others it can be seen totally blocked, hence the name total solar eclipse. In just four days from now, on April 8th, there will be a total solar eclipse. The area in which the eclipse will be total - the path of totality - will be about 115 miles or 185 km wide and will pass through Mexico, The US, and Canada making it more of a Great North American Eclipse. The cool thing about this one is that the length of the totality, depending on where exactly you are, will be as long as 4 minutes and 27 seconds and for that premium viewing experience you need to be in Naza, Mexico. If you prefer to view it in the US, Dallas, TX will have the longest totality with 4 minutes and 23 seconds at 1:40pm local time on April 8th.
During this event, the shadow of the moon will be traveling at various speeds depending on the location. When the totality first arrives in Mexico, the shadow will be casually traveling at 1,561 mph or 2,512 kph and later in the day while over Newfoundland the shadow will be rocketing along at 6,970 mph or 11,217 kph.
Important note: NEVER look directly into the sun while watching an eclipse and sunglasses are NOT useful as protection for your eyes. Unfortunately, there are some misguided individuals who have decided to make money at the expense of the eye sight of others and are selling fake "eclipse glasses". Therefore, when purchasing "eclipse glasses" always look for the proper certification. Those that comply with the ultraviolet, visible and infrared light transmittance requirements have a designation: ISO 12312-2:2015.
So what is all this noise about increased traffic accidents and air traffic delays during an eclipse? Well, there is some truth to the both of those. During the last total solar eclipse in 2017, many people were enroute to watch the eclipse or simply driving and decided to look at the event while operating their vehicle. Do the math: more people driving while paying less attention to the road equals more accidents. Therefore, give yourself plenty of time if you are going to an eclipse watch event as there will certainly be an increase in traffic resulting in delays. And whatever you do, don't take your eyes off the road.
What about air traffic delays? Really? Really. During the last total solar eclipse in 2017, air traffic operations increased between 23 and 36 percent around some major centers, according to a report from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. But Why? In 2017 during the last eclipse, some commercial airlines increased flights to follow the path of the eclipse and marketed those flights accordingly. But the real log jam was a result of a considerable increase in private plane traffic which was a bit of a nightmare for air traffic controllers and those people travelling out of necessity. As a result, there will likely be flight delays and time spent in holding patterns due to this increase in private plane traffic. So it makes complete sense that the FAA has warned that there may be flight delays on April 8th.
What will I be doing during this eclipse? Thanks for asking. I am heading to the Sahara desert in Morocco to capture images of the Milky Way Galaxy atop the sand dunes. I need to wait until the next total solar eclipse in 2026 where the center of the path of totality will be in Spain which is very convenient because I live in Valencia, Spain.
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