Free Astronomy Magazine May-June 2024

4 ASTRO PUBLISHING MAY-JUNE 2024 This is how we did (and didn't) see the eclipse of April 8 th An eclipse in the land of the temples of the Sun by François Blateyron revised by Damian G. Allis NASA Solar System Ambassador O n April 8, a total solar eclipse crossed the North American continent, from the Pacific coast of Mexico to Quebec, pass- ing through Texas, and many states in the eastern United States. This eclipse, with a phase of totality of approximately 4 minutes and 25 sec- onds, therefore affected tens of mil- lions of people, particularly in the United States, who had already wit- nessed the previous total eclipse of 21 August 2017 and the annular eclipse of 14 October 2023. M agnificent prominences are vis- ible because the Moon masks the brightness of the Sun. These protrusions are four to five times the diameter of the Earth! [F. Blateyron] A few weeks earlier, climate models predicted better chances for clear skies south of the path, in Mexico and Texas, and less favorable condi- tions to the north. But the weather forecast for the days before the eclipse showed an almost opposite reality, with cloudy skies in Mexico, storm clouds in Texas, and finally clear weather in Canada! Amateurs who made the journey found in- creased stress in the hours leading up to the eclipse, with numerous ar- guments over where the clearest point along the path was. Some had traveled hundreds of kilometers the