If you were on any social media app on April 8th, 2024, you likely saw at least one post relating to the solar eclipse. Or, maybe you even were able to witness the total solar eclipse itself, the one that is being referred to as the Great North American Eclipse.
Basically, a total eclipse is when the Moon moves between the Earth and the Sun, extinguishing its light and causing a total solar eclipse. These kinds of eclipses aren’t so frequent, as they happen around once every 18 months.
Besides the total solar eclipse, there are several other types of solar eclipses:
- Annular Solar Eclipse: When the Moon is at/near its farthest point from Earth, so it’s smaller than the Sun and doesn’t cover it;
- Partial Solar Eclipse: When the Moon, the Earth, and the Sun aren’t perfectly lined up. Usually, it can be seen during a total or annular eclipse by people outside the area covered by the Moon’s inner shadow;
- Hybrid Solar Eclipse: Due to Earth's curved surface, sometimes, an eclipse can shift between annular and total as the Moon’s shadow moves across the globe.
The Great North American Eclipse was visible from certain places in North America, from Mexico to Canada and crossing the contiguous United States. Even some places in European countries, like Svalbard (in Norway), Iceland, Ireland, the northwest of Spain and Portugal, and so on, were able to see it as a partial solar eclipse.
It lasted somewhere between around 3.5 and 4 minutes. The longest-ever total eclipse occurred in 743 B.C., and it lasted 7 minutes and 28 seconds. Almost double the time of this one! And more than double the time of the 2017 total solar eclipse, whose longest stretch was only 2 minutes and 32 seconds. Also, NASA says that this record should be broken in 2186 with a 7-minute, 29-second total solar eclipse.
For safe viewing of the Great North American Eclipse, people were advised to grab a pair of certified eclipse glasses or a solar viewer. Without them, a person risks getting permanent eye damage, known as solar retinopathy, which can’t be treated and, in some cases, even causes blindness.
Another total solar eclipse in the contiguous US won’t be seen until August 22, 2044, while a total eclipse with a coast-to-coast path will only occur on August 12, 2045. Europeans won’t have to wait so long, as the next total eclipse there is “scheduled” to happen on August 12, 2026, and again on August 2, 2027.
So, while we wait for the next eclipse, let’s take a trip through these hilarious eclipse-related memes and upvote those that are the most amusing!
Did you watch the total solar eclipse on April 8th? Or maybe you even witnessed another solar eclipse? Share your stories with us in the comments!
