On Monday, April 8, 2024, there will be a total solar eclipse visible to those in the United States. The best time for locals in Moscow Idaho is at 11:30 a.m. There will only be 30% visibility but still an event not to miss.
With the weather being cloudy and stormy as of last week, the eclipse may not be able to be seen at all. Even with the 28% visibility, unless there is a hole in the clouds nothing will be seen. The best states according to Professor Jason Barnes who teaches Astronomy & Planetary Science are southwest Missouri and New England.
Barnes said, “Looking at the weather forecast right now, there seem to be two patches of clear sky predicted. One centered in southwest Missouri and the other in New England.” Even with limited visibility in Moscow solar eclipses are not usually very long events.
A solar eclipse lasts around a few minutes. Barnes said, “Totality can last anywhere from just a few seconds to nearly five minutes. The eclipse on Monday will be a particularly deep eclipse, with long totalities in excess of four minutes near the centerline.”
The last time there was a solar eclipse was last year on Oct. 14 23. This eclipse was not total. Barnes said, “The moon didn’t cover up the full sun in the sky. It left a ring in what’s known as an annular eclipse.”
The last known total eclipse was Dec 4, 2021. It was not well remembered because it was visible in Antarctica only. According to Barnes, the last total eclipse in the United States was the one in 2017 that went right through Idaho. The next total eclipse to occur after Monday will be Aug 12. 2026. “But will only be visible only in Greenland, Iceland, and Spain on land,” said Barnes.
Something about a solar eclipse that stands out is during the eclipse it becomes dark enough to see stars and planets in the sky. Barnes said, “On April 8 there is also a comet that might become visible.”
There is an outer part of the Sun that is normally not visible. Barnes said, “During an eclipse when the central Sun is blocked out you can see surprisingly bright and complex white structures around the sky.”
With low visibility, there is no watch party scheduled through the Department of Astronomy like there was for the eclipse in October. Barnes, like many others, plans to drive out to where you can see a good bit of totality.
Grace Boehland can be reached at [email protected]