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title: 2024 U.S. Total Eclipse Explained | TIME
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* Science

# 2024 U.S. Total Eclipse Explained

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MOMY0Lpx.m3u8" -->
## Video: 2024 U.S. Total Eclipse Explained

[Watch (HLS stream): 2024 U.S. Total Eclipse Explained](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/MOMY0Lpx.m3u8) (2:13)

![2024 U.S. Total Eclipse Explained](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/MOMY0Lpx/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2024-02-27. A rare total solar eclipse will occur across Mexico, the U.S., and Canada on April 8, 2024, when the moon will pass between the Earth and the Sun, blocking the sun’s rays during the day time, causing a temporary period of darkness. TIME Editor-at-Large Jeffrey Kluger explains the best way to experience it._


---

Feb 28, 2024 9:04 PM UTC

---

## More From This Series

[All Videos](https://time.com/video/)

[Watch: 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Totality in Arkansas](/video/qwbRfU2l/)

### Watch: 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Totality in Arkansas

[Watch: The 2024 Total Solar Eclipse](/video/tqjUO7Kp/):37

### Watch: The 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

[Why Seeing A Total Solar Eclipse Is So Rare](/video/X6t8RKE9/)

### Why Seeing A Total Solar Eclipse Is So Rare

---


## Transcript

Total eclipses occur when the moon passes directly between the Earth and the Sun blocking solar light since 1900 only 12 have touch the US Mainland most of them only glancingly on average a total solar eclipse will happen where you live only once every 375 years. Why are they so rare? Well, the sun is about 400 times larger than the moon but the sun is also 400 times farther away. So the two bodies appear about the same size to us on the moon orbits the earth once each month. So why doesn't it Shadow touch the Earth causing an eclipse with each pass? Partly because the moon's orbit is tilted slightly which causes its shadow to miss the Earth most of the time but it's also because the moon's orbit is elliptical for much of its path.

The Moon is farther away from Earth and appears too small to block out the sun completely those eclipses are called annular. Only when the eclipse occurs at the moon's closest approach is a total eclipse possible, even then the narrow band of totality usually tracks over water or away from population centers. That's why this eclipse on April 8th is so special as it crosses the Texas border at about 1:27 p.m. Local time sitting closest to the center of the path like Waco Cleveland and buffalo could witness up for 4 minutes or more of darkness in all 31 million us residents live in the path of the eclipse.

Even if you don't live in the path of totality most of the US will experience some level of Darkness. It's a 2-hour spectacle that you don't want to miss because the next total solar eclipse to hit the US Mainland won't be until 2044.

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