When the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, blocking the sun’s light for a few minutes on Monday, the sky will darken as if it were dusk amid a total solar eclipse over North, Central and South America for the first time since 2017.
It will also mark the last time such an astronomical anomaly will be visible to the vast majority of Americans until 2045.
Seven years ago, 88% of U.S. adults turned their gaze in relative unison toward the heavens indirectly, squinted through specially designed protective equipment or followed along electronically, hoping to catch a glimpse of the last solar eclipse, according to NASA.
That eclipse’s estimated 215 million viewers meant more Americans beheld it than watched the Apollo 11 moon landing, more than have ever voted in any single U.S. presidential election and more than watched even a small part of Super Bowl LVIII globally last year, the game’s largest-ever audience. It was the rare collective national experience in a partisan, niche-preoccupied and siloed America.
Those with the best seats in the house will be within the path of totality, or the roughly 115 mile-wide diagonal band where the experience will be at its most dynamic, stretching northeast from Dallas, Texas, to Montreal, Quebec. Compared to the 2017 display, this year’s more highly populated path will be almost twice as wide on average, with the view projected to create more pronounced darkness over a longer period predicted to top out around 4½ minutes at the best viewing location.
And with 99% of the country expected to be able to see a partial or total eclipse from their homes, 2024’s offering might draw an even grander audience.
As the solar show dances along its uncompromising course across a nation divided and through Pennsylvania, a key “battleground” state in the 2024 U.S presidential election, curtains will go up amid cascading commencements in Erie shortly after 3:15 p.m.
From the wholly uninterested to the utterly fascinated, curious residents might take a brief reprieve from work to look up to catch a glimpse. Some plan to make a day of it, setting up lawn chairs for friends and family and offering refreshments and protective equipment. Others have a notion to make for a public park with their kids or head northwest for a better view. A few plan to stay at home and pray, or simply throw on some tunes in the solitude and indulge in their chosen world-weary vice.
During that brief window in time, with so many of us fixated on the same horizon in a simple act — some feeling small, others special, underwhelmed or awestruck — we might find ourselves unwittingly among the most aligned we’ve ever been with the countless friends, foes, neighbors and strangers with whom we share the serendipitous moon’s shadow.
Who among us can say who’s red and who’s blue from behind eclipse glasses in the cosmic dark?
While there are infinite disparate ways to commemorate the occasion, for the contemplative among us, Pink Floyd might set the scene better than they could have possibly imagined when they released “Eclipse” as part of their classic “Dark Side of the Moon” album back in 1973.
Together, the band sings together in a timeless and powerful anthem:
”And all you create/And all you destroy/And all that you do/And all that you say/And all that you eat/And everyone you meet/And all that you slight/And everyone you fight/And all that is now/And all that is gone/And all that's to come/And everything under the sun is in tune/But the sun is eclipsed by the moon.”
Our readers’ comments
• [I] did see a solar eclipse in 1994. It was a big deal that court was recessed so we all could watch it from the courthouse roof. This time around just hoping we have clear sky. Ann Holzgang
• I'm watching from my yard. I saw the last one in 2017, only that was a partial. It was still awesome to experience with my grandkids. The sudden silence of no birds was cool! I can't wait to share this total eclipse with my grandkids, too! Tammy Estatico
• I'm going to stay home and look up! We'll have a great view from our place in Dunkirk, N.Y.! Probably should get a few munchies to celebrate the occasion! Lane Gill
• I'm going to celebrate my birthday!!! Deborah Hepler
• That is my birthday, so I guess I have plans. Monica Speck
• We’ll have outstanding witness here at home near Blooming Valley. We shall watch from our deck, when Woodcock Lake disappears, with children, grandkids and friends coming to see this event from Pittsburgh area. John Braun
• Keep your pets inside and watch it on TV. Kevin Stewart
• Can't even go to the club for lunch as it's not open that day. News predicting that over 200,000 people will crowd here into Erie to watch the sky. Staying home where it's safe. David Rubbico
• To Cleveland water park. Dianna Ross
• Carnegie Science Center has their celebration. Mary Lou Stefano
• Bus trip to Lake Erie for the day! Winery here we come!!! Dennis McMahon
• Hopefully either at nursing home with my husband or, if I'm lucky ... home. Indiana, Pa. June Truitt
• Relaxing at home right in the middle of totality. Weather permitting, I’ll be sitting in the backyard enjoying Yuengling and avoiding people. Steve Brooks
• Donna, wanna golf during it? YES!! Will it improve my game? Never know, or at least won’t be able to tell when it’s dark out LOL.” Greg Ising and Donna Paolo
• Going south and praying for clear skies. Didn’t want to chance a PA spring. This is an event. My fourth. Virginia Dougherty
• Watching from my own yard. But I know of more important things like my Savior, Jesus, and God who created this thing we are going to watch. Eva Martinak
• I plan on living life on that day as I do any other day. Serve the Lord Jesus Christ and do my best to be a better man today than I was yesterday. I often fail but I try harder the next day. Scott Stillwell
• I'm watching it on TV and will be reading my Bible and praying to my LORD. Nancy Combs
• Never have [seen an eclipse], but I am going to try this time!” Georgia Lohner
• Witnessed one in the ’60s. It was so cool to an 8-year-old. Vickie Harbaugh
• I will sadly be at work, as usual. ... I already mentioned I may have to leave early that day LOL. Bill Keller
• I'll be at Walmart! Stocking shelves! YAY!” Joseph Johnson
• Hopefully I can get to work second shift that day.” Robert Ahlgren
• I'm going far enough north so I can be in the path of totality. This is a once in a lifetime chance. That being said, it will probably be raining. Jacob Orr
• Hope for a clear day to start. Rick Huff
• We live in Erie. Cloudy, rain, snow, take your pick! Will happen. We won't see it. Jack Tell
• We're in central PA. Probably be heavy overcast with showers just like every other celestial event. Brian Maul Sr.
• I'll be watching it from my front yard. Patti Morris
• Watching it in our backyard! It’s nice to see our creations of other planets doing the most amazing things that we need to survive on this Earth. We need the sun and moon for our being and I am sure there are other planets we don’t even know about yet and never will to survive with. They are so far and beyond us. The space station will get the full version of it. We all live on this little planet called Earth and there are planets that are way bigger than us. To me, this is history being made and is a science made beyond. Be thankful that we get to see this in every way possible. Ethel Stivers
• Taking the day off work and heading out with my eclipse glasses to watch in Northwest Pennsylvania! See you on the Dark Side of the Moon. Debbie Rider
• Unfortunately, I have to fly to my home office in Sioux Falls, but perhaps I’ll catch from the sky!? Nowhere near the ARC that far west! But did get glasses for da fam. Luann Henderson-Snyder
• Got our glasses, shirts, watching from our front yard, with drinks in one hand, and good weed in the other! Come on by! Harold Voss
• Driving up to Edinboro University (Penn West Edinboro). Paul J. Laure
• Heading to a winery in Erie. Saw the partial eclipse in 2017. Can’t wait to experience totality!” Janet Ann
• I’m flying to Seattle, Washington, that day. Mike Farrell
• Shocker to hear this, but I’ll be looking up. Tim Cain
• Do not care. Susan Dougherty
• It's way overblown! Just a natural occurrence. Daniel Myers
• In 2017 we were out west and saw the eclipse from the top of a mountain pass. Something really neat to see. Joyce Kassouf
• I’m watching it in Erie, where I live! There’s a watch party at The Brewerie at Union Station and in the park across the street from it. ... I can’t wait to watch with a lot of people — fun!! Carly Joyce
• Heading to Erie! Reserved hotel back in October! ... Erie is a nice quick getaway, although I’m avoiding Presque Isle this time. It’s going to be a mad house! Nicole Berg Lucas
• Will be watching up close and personal in Conneaut, Ohio! Jack Holcomb
• Well I bought glasses to see it ... so I'll be watching from my home in Pittsburgh. Won't get to be in the total darkness, but we will have about 97% coverage, so I am expecting to be like dusk out. But I guess we will wait and see what happens. Chris Chuckie Wielock
• Do yourself a favor and go to Erie or go close to Meadville. Once in a lifetime event. Ronald C. Yochum
• We will be camping in Mercer and watching from there. No traffic and no idiots to deal with! Ken Myers
• Plans are to watch it from our backyard in Lawrence Park, Pa. No need to put up with traffic. Conrad Sobczak
• X-rays are perfect for viewing the eclipse. I watched the moon cover the sun very clearly with an x-ray sheet! Mick Bonner (Note: According to National Geographic, using an x-ray sheet is dangerous and should be avoided completely.)
• Since we're in the totality area, I'll be trying to navigate my way home without going insane, then hiding till the tourists bugger off. Nicola Lutz
• Trying to find somewhere with friends to go see it. Jessica Sigler
• Staying home in Erie. Joanie Salchli
• 1968 or 1969 saw it in New Jersey. Beverly Batista
• H--- yes, I am going to take a nap. Frank Maloof
• I am really annoyed actually because it will happen in Dayton Ohio at 3:50 p.m. and I will have been there in the morning and have left by lunchtime. Patrick Hasler
• Just staring at it for a few minutes. Fred Shugars
• Nope, except watch the Earth go to the dark side of the moon. Jeff Imer
• I rented a pavilion at a state park. Never saw one. Will be sharing it with my kids. Anyone who doesn't think this is something worth checking out is a weirdo. John T. Shank
• Put on Cat Stevens (For you younger folks, he was OK) ... and play “Moon Shadow” at max volume till I go blind. Or not! haha. Steve Vasko
• I went to 2017 Glendo Total Solar Eclipse In Wyoming to see the eclipse and it was absolutely phenomenal. The event, the people, it was just a great time. You MUST go to the area of totality to get the full effect. Otherwise it’s really not that interesting. The difference between totality and 99% is extreme and well worth the trip from Pittsburgh to Erie or parts of northern Ohio. Once in a lifetime chance to see something that will completely blow your mind and I guarantee that you’ll be in tears, a memory to be shared with your friends and loved ones that will never fade. Ronald C. Yochum
First Published: April 3, 2024, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: April 4, 2024, 2:30 p.m.
