Rare sight over North America: a total solar eclipse will occur on Monday

On April 8, another total solar eclipse will take place that will amaze you. The bad news for us: it won’t be visible in Switzerland. The great thing: if you are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, you will see a rare spectacle. And: in this country we should at least be able to see impressive images of the total solar eclipse again.

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will pass over North America, Mexico, the US and Canada. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon, whose orbit is between the Earth and the Sun, passes directly between the Sun and the Earth, casting a large shadow on our planet.

The total solar eclipse will be visible over a width of 197 kilometers. This strip extends from the central Pacific Ocean through Mexico, the eastern half of the US, parts of Canada and all the way to the open North Atlantic Ocean. You can see the solar eclipse on this band total, that is, observing darkness covering the entire sun. The moon’s umbra moves over major cities such as Dallas, Texas or Montreal, Canada. The tourist town of Mazatlán on Mexico’s Pacific coast and the famous Niagara Falls on the US-Canada border are also within the totality strip.

The solar eclipse, or so-called ‘totality’, will begin at 6:38 PM Swiss time over the Pacific Ocean. Shortly before 8 p.m., the moon’s shadow made landfall in Mexico before leaving in Newfoundland, Canada, about two hours later. Around eleven o’clock and in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, the umbra finally leaves Earth again.

At all locations where the solar eclipse passes, it can only be observed for a few minutes. The longest this can be observed is almost four and a half minutes over northern Mexico.

However, the solar eclipse can not only be seen on the described 197 kilometer long strip: as a partial solar eclipse, the spectacle can also be seen northeast and southwest of it, even as far as the North Pole. In these areas the sun is only partially covered by the moon.

For a solar eclipse to occur, the moon must be on the – more or less – the same axis between the sun and Earth. A distinction is made between one totals and a partial solar eclipse.

During a partial solar eclipse, Earth is struck only by the moon’s penumbra. This means that the moon only partially crosses the axis between the Earth and the sun, but not completely. This of course also applies to a total solar eclipse: only the part of the Earth that lies in the shadow of the entire moon is in the so-called totality zone – the rest is then only a partial solar eclipse.

Depending on the distances between the moon and the Earth and the moon and the sun, the moon does not cover the sun 100 percent during a total solar eclipse: there is still a bright ring around the moon. This type of total solar eclipse is called an annular solar eclipse.

In the long term, there are about 230 solar eclipses somewhere on Earth every century – including partial ones. This means that the phenomenon can be observed at least twice and a maximum of five times a year. However, the eclipses cannot be observed everywhere in the world. The last total solar eclipse Switzerland experienced it 22 years ago: At that time, in August 1999, one was over southern Germany.

It won’t be long before we can watch a bigger spectacle again: On August 12, 2026, a partial solar eclipse will occur, with more than 90 percent of the sun above Switzerland being covered by the moon. And if you spend your summer holidays in Spain, you can even experience a total solar eclipse.

But a year later, on August 2, 2027, it will be even more spectacular. Then there will be total darkness, again over Spain. The maximum is six minutes and 23 seconds, making it the longest total solar eclipse in the 21st century.

Total solar eclipses are much rarer than partial solar eclipses in any given location in the world. In the 21st century, Switzerland will see only one total solar eclipse: on September 3, 2081.

(lacquer)