Are you prepared for the 2024 total solar eclipse? If not, the time has come to begin putting in your request for solar eclipse glasses. The 2024 total solar eclipse will be one of the most spectacular solar eclipse events and it’s practically around the corner!
The United States witnessed the last total solar eclipse in August 2017, and it was one of the most viewed astronomical events.
Another total solar eclipse will venture out from Mexico to Texas, through Ohio, New York, Vermont, Maine and parts of Canada on April 8, 2024.
So if you want to take in the view of the next total solar eclipse, now is the time to plan. Here are a couple of tips to take into account for a memorable experience in 2024:
Venture Out for the Best Spot
The ideal opportunity for the total solar eclipse maximizes at the focal point of its path. On August 21, 2017, the solar eclipse totality went on for 2 minutes and 40 seconds only outside of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. For the best possible view of totality, the 2024 obscuration will have the greatest totality span of 4 minutes and 28 seconds in Nazas, Durango, Mexico.
The closer you are to the focal point of the way of totality, the longer the totality will last. For the 2024 total solar eclipse, these are a few of the places that will experience higher lengths of totality:
- Dallas, Texas
- Waco, Texas
- Mount Vernon, Illinois
- Poplar Bluff, Missouri
- Bloomington, Indiana
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Kenton, Ohio
- Erie, Pennsylvania
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Rochester, New York
- Wild ox, New York
So, pick out a city from this list and be sure to book your plane tickets and/or gas up your cars.
Beat the traffic
If you’re looking to view the next solar eclipse and you’d rather not spend it sitting in rush hour traffic then get to your goal early and take as much time as you can off the beaten track. Make an outing of it. Take a bypass and visit a few attractions close-by that will enable you to maintain a strategic distance from the primary streets and heavily congested areas.
Keep an Eye on Weather
Beating the weather is the greatest battle in planning for a solar eclipse. Rain and cloud cover are two things you would prefer not to avoid during the eclipse. There isn’t much you can do about making arrangements for the climate. That being said, you can track the weather. So if any rain clouds come your way, you’ll be ready to come up with a Plan B. This one is difficult to anticipate. However, it is the most critical factor with regard to a solar eclipse.
Not sure where to start in keeping tabs on the weather for the 2024 total solar eclipse, take a quick look at the NASA solar eclipse tracking page. It might help.
Get Decked Out Before the Hype Train
In 2017, solar eclipse glasses were sold out in stores all over the world but at extremely high costs as people waited until the last second to purchase them. So, it’s better to plan ahead and buy them as early as possible. Make sure to get them before costs begin soaring around the 2024 eclipse.
Solar eclipses are not uncommon, but they don’t happen every day. So, if you have the ability to travel, then go and see it for yourself. You won’t’ regret it!
