The last eclipse was so much fun, they decided to hold another one.
Six months from now, April 8, 2024, the St. Louis region will be the beneficiary of a solar eclipse, as it was in 2017. But this time our city won’t quite be in the path of the total eclipse. The immediate area will see about 99% of a total eclipse.
“Ninety-nine percent is pretty good. The way to think about it is you’ve got a lottery ticket, but you’re off one number,” said Donald Ficken, St. Louis regional chair of the Missouri Eclipse Task Force.
If you want to witness the full glory of the thing, the moon-blotting-out-the-sun perfection of it all, you’ll have to go a little bit south or a little bit east.
Not far. In Missouri, Park Hills or Ste. Genevieve will see the total solar eclipse. In Illinois, Red Bud, Sparta or Nashville will as well. Most hotel rooms throughout the path of the total eclipse, however, are already sold out.
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A solar eclipse occurs when the sun, the moon and the Earth form a straight line in space, said Will Snyder, planetarium manager at the James S. McDonnell Planetarium at the St. Louis Science Center.
From the perspective of a narrow swath of people on Earth, the moon appears to completely block out the sun, leaving only an impressive ring of light called the solar corona around the black disc of the moon.
“It is such a surreal experience. During that time, it gets dark enough for stars and planets to become visible in the daytime. There is very dramatic temperature change, and that can cause changes in the wind,” Snyder said.
“Birds (and other) animals change their behavior. You’ll hear crickets start to chirp in the daytime. You’ll experience a 360-degree sunset around you.”
Ficken said that people flew in from around the world to be here for the 2017 eclipse. Total solar eclipses are that special.
“It’s almost a spiritual thing,” he said. “It got quiet, and everyone got along well. It was like a big group hug. Everybody loved everybody, and there were no problems anywhere.”
Perhaps the most awe-inspiring moment of a total solar eclipse comes when the sun is completely blocked by the moon, leaving only the solar corona. During that time, which is called totality, people can remove their eye protection and look directly at the eclipse without fear of damaging their eyes.
As soon as the sun starts peeking out from behind the moon, viewers should put back on their eye protection. And the protection can only be safely removed in the area that experiences a total eclipse. Even in St. Louis, with 99% of the sun covered, viewers should wear eye protection at all times.
Totality, for those places that get it, can last from just a few seconds to just over four minutes — this time. During the 2017 eclipse, peak totality lasted about 2½ minutes.
For next year’s eclipse, the peak, more-than-four-minute totality will be experienced on a line stretching from Jackson, Missouri, to Carbondale, Illinois, and beyond in both directions.
Carbondale is special. It was also in the center of the moon’s shadow — and thus experienced the longest amount of totality — in the 2017 eclipse.
Although this region will experience two total solar eclipses in just six years, they are actually fairly rare. Carbondale notwithstanding, they generally occur over the same place an average of once every 375 years. And they only occur somewhere on the planet once every 18 months.
Before 2017, Ficken said, the last total solar eclipse to be visible anywhere in Missouri was in 1869. The next time St. Louis will be in the path of one will be 2505.
“The Earth is really big compared to the size of the shadow the moon casts,” Snyder said.
Total solar eclipses are unusual, but other eclipses are more common. On Oct. 14, the St. Louis area will be in the path of a partial eclipse; about 54% of the sun will be covered by the moon.
In parts of Texas and the south, the Oct. 14 event will be an annular eclipse, meaning the moon will appear to cover the sun. However, the moon — which has an elliptical orbit around the Earth — will be too far away from Earth to appear to entirely cover the sun. What is called the Ring of Fire, the outer rim of the sun, will appear around the moon in those parts of the country.
As with next year’s total eclipse, anyone wishing to view the Oct. 14 event should take precautions to protect their eyes, Snyder said.
Looking into the sun during an eclipse is no worse for your eyes than looking into the sun where there is not a eclipse, he said, but still: It’s looking into the sun. Don’t do it. And by all means, do not use binoculars or other magnifying devices.
Only solar glasses should be used to watch an eclipse or to look at the sun in general, Snyder said. And most manufacturers warn that the coating they use begins to degrade after around three years. In other words, if you still have your solar glasses from the 2017 eclipse, you should discard them and get a new pair.
Glasses that are new for the Oct. 14 eclipse will still be usable for the April 8 eclipse.
In 2017, the market was flooded with cheap counterfeit solar glasses that did little or nothing to protect the wearer’s eyes. For that reason, Snyder said, it is vital to find reputable places to get them.
The American Astronomical Society has a list of reputable makers of solar glasses at eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters.
Welding helmets with shade 12 or higher can also be used, according to NASA, though some people may find shade 12 too bright and shade 14 too dim to enjoy the eclipse.
Ficken said a number of people have asked him whether they should put solar glasses on their dogs and other pets. No, he says, “it’s just an ordinary day for them.” They won’t know that there is an eclipse to watch.
People can also view a projection of the eclipse without any fear of endangering their eyes by poking a pinhole through a piece of paper or cardboard and holding it above another piece of paper or even the sidewalk. An exact image of the eclipse will appear.
Total solar eclipses occur because of an astonishing coincidence, Ficken said: The sun’s diameter is 400 times the size of the moon’s, and the sun is 400 times farther from the Earth than the moon. The moon completely blocks the sun, with just the solar corona to show for it, only because of that ratio.
No other planet in the solar system can experience a total solar eclipse. Every other planet’s moons are either too large or too small, relative to the distance from the sun, Snyder said.
And it will not always be so. The moon’s orbit is slowly expanding away from the Earth. It drifts away at a rate of just under 1½ inches per year. Eventually, it will be too far away to completely block out the sun.
But don’t worry, or at least not yet. Scientists estimate that won’t happen for another 1.2 billion years, or so.