Total Solar Eclipse Will Cross US on April 8

This Monday, April 8, a total solar eclipse will occur that will be seen in more than 15 states in the United States. “It will cross the entire United States, from Texas to Maine,” explains Nicholeen Viall-Kepko, a researcher at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

This phenomenon, he explains, “occurs when the Moon is located between the Earth and the Sun, completely blocking the main ring of the Sun.”

«The distance between the Earth and the Moon changes. There are times when it is closer and it is further away. In this case the Moon is closer, so, in some way, it makes the Moon look bigger and covers more of the Sun, covering its entirety,” adds Gerónimo Villanueva, planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, in statements to the Voice of America.

In that case, when a phenomenon of these characteristics occurs, it occurs “relatively quickly.”

“The sensation is quite strange because we are in the middle of the day and at a certain moment we instantly go into the night in a couple of minutes,” said Villanueva.

A historical fact

Eclipses occur every 18 months, in some form, somewhere on the planet. “The issue is that, for it to occur fully, they are less frequent.”

«In addition, it occurring in the same place is much less frequent. In reality, we have been lucky that the last total in North America was in 2017,” he said, remembering that the next one will be in 2044.

Between 1pm and 4pm more than 31 million residents of 15 states in the country, from Texas to Maine, will be able to watch the sun go out and it becomes completely night in a matter of seconds. It is still too early to predict where this eclipse could best be seen, taking into account that the clouds could spoil the party for many.

“It’s wonderful to be able to watch the Sun disappear, it’s something strange and wonderful because you start to see the stars during the day,” said Jason Harlow, professor of physics at the University of Toronto.

Fear of weather conditions

However, there is concern about the weather. Not only because of the clouds, but because thunderstorms have been predicted in areas of the south and the Mississippi Valley, which would not allow the observation of the eclipse.

So it is possible that the clouds ruin the “eclipsemania” party that is being experienced throughout the country. Of course, experts recommend continuing to use certified solar eclipse glasses if you look directly at the satellite, even if the sun is obscured.

«We can never look at the Sun, it is extremely dangerous. Even though you think it will be dimmer and so on, you should never look at the Sun directly because it can cause almost immediate blindness,” said the NASA scientist.

In that sense, remember that there are ways to see the eclipse through solar telescopes or pieces of paper to see the Sun indirectly. “The easiest and most fun thing is to use these glasses, with a very dark material, which allows you to cover solar radiation effectively,” he explained.

“They have ISO regulations, so when you buy online make sure it is with those conditions, with those requirements,” he added in this regard.

NASA investigations

NASA scientists are prepared to analyze samples that would otherwise be impossible due to the Sun’s strong radiation. “The Sun’s impact reaches throughout the entire atmosphere, from the bottom, where we are, to the upper part, which is called the ionosphere,” he said.

«What we want to understand is what happens when solar radiation disappears quickly. We notice that the temperature changes, it is something that we want to understand what happens, how quickly our atmosphere responds to rapid changes in radiation, but we also want to understand the chemical part, the physical-chemical phenomena that happen in the upper part of the atmosphere ” , said Villanueva, convinced that this information “is very relevant when studying, for example, the effect of solar radiation, solar storms or the relationship between the atmosphere and the Sun.”

However, the US space agency will also send rockets that will be aimed at the upper part of the atmosphere to be able to take measurements “before, during and after the eclipse, to see those rapid changes.”

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