Eclipse Passes Over North America

By Jeremy D. Wells

From Texas through Maine, Sinaloa to Nova Scotia, folks in the path of totality had a spectacular show today as the 2024 solar eclipse traversed North America. Major cities in Texas including San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth, and Dallas, as well as Dayton, Toledo, and Cleveland in Ohio providing residents and visitors a chance to see the sun’s corona with unshielded eyes as the moon covered the sun completely. Other major cities on the path of totality included Little Rock, Arkansas; Indianapolis, Indiana; Erie, Pennsylvania; Buffalo, New York; Hamilton, Ontario; Burlington, Vermont; and Montreal, Quebec.

Those who witnessed the totality described it with words and phrases such as awe inspiring, otherworldly, and emotionally overwhelming. Many said it was difficult to put into words just how much of an impact the experience had on them – or how big the difference was between viewing the eclipse from the path of totality versus viewing from an area where it had even 99% coverage.

For one, there is the darkness. Those in the 90 – 99% range noticed some significant dimming of the sun during the eclipse, but it was like having heavy cloud cover come over. Not the heavier darkness and changing of colors (reds were said to get darker while blues and greens would shine) seen in areas with complete coverage. Some viewers even reported a drop in temperature when the moon completely covered the sun. And farmers in some parts of the path reported that their turkeys and chickens went to roost.

But the main difference was the ability to take off your eclipse-rated glasses and look directly at the sun’s corona, as our star was covered over by the orb of the moon. Several spectacular photographs captured the beauty of the event, but they didn’t capture the feeling.

“This was the most intensely beautiful celestial event I have ever witnessed,” said Ohio based writer and researcher Vincent Larson, who made a special trip into the path of totality for the eclipse. “I was overcome with emotion, utter joy, and awe.”