How to see this week's eclipse (and the next big one)

During a total solar eclipse the world around you is very different. The sun gets totally blotted out and suddenly, it feels like night time. The temperature drops. Birds stop singing. These surreal celestial events happen every year or so around the globe – including tomorrow. To get you prepped, we’re talking to eclipse chasers about what makes these few minutes of darkness worthwhile and break down how to view an eclipse. That includes using special specs, so we’re linking the American Astronomical Society’s list of trustworthy eclipse glasses https://eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters. To nerd out even more, check out NASA’s eclipse website https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html. Interested in more space news? Email us your question at [email protected] mailto:[email protected] and we may cover it in an upcoming segment. Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org http://plus.npr.org/. See pcm.adswizz.com https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:18Speaker 01

  You're listening to Short Wave from NPR.

• 0:23Speaker 01

  Hey, guys. Producer Hannah Chen here in disguise as a host. Don't tell on me. To talk about something pretty rad happening tomorrow, a total solar eclipse. And here to help me talk through this amazing stellar event is astrophysicist and host of Short Wave, real host this time, Regina Barber. Hey, Gina.

• 0:40Speaker 02

  Hey, Han. For our listeners, if they are in parts of Greenland, Iceland, or northern Spain, maybe a tiny sliver of Portugal, they'll be able to see the total solar eclipse tomorrow.

• 0:50Speaker 01

  Yeah. And just so we're all on the same page here, a total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes in front of the sun and completely covers it, and day basically turns to night, right? And the first time I saw a solar eclipse was in 2017, actually, when I was home for the summer from college in Oregon.

• 1:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, I missed that one because I was scared there'd be like too much traffic driving there, which I totally regret now. I did see a partial eclipse, though, in Washington State, which people in parts of Europe, Africa, and North America will be able to see tomorrow, too. Though if you're anything like David Barron, that won't be enough.

• 1:24Speaker 03

  An umbra file is a fancy word for what I am, and that's an eclipse chaser. It just, it means a shadow lover. And that's what I am. I love being in the shadow of the moon.

• 1:35Speaker 02

  So David's an eclipse chaser and author of the book, American Eclipse: A Nation's Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World.

• 1:44Speaker 01

  Phew, long title.

• 1:46Speaker 02

  Yeah. It's actually about the eclipse that was visible across the US in 1878. And I spoke with him a couple of years ago in 2024 in preparation for the big US eclipse that year.

• 1:57Speaker 03

  A total solar eclipse is the closest thing to space travel that you can experience without leaving the surface of the earth. It's like for a few minutes, you are suddenly transported to some alien world. It's like you're living in some sci fi movie, seeing a sky you've never seen, seeing the universe in a whole new way. And as brief as it is, for me and a lot of people, it really can change your outlook for years to come, if not the rest of your life.

• 2:30Speaker 03

  It's like you've left the solar system and are looking back from some other world.

• 2:36Speaker 02

  And that's what keeps him coming back again and again.

• 2:39Speaker 01

  So today on the show, we've got a total solar eclipse. What it is, how do you un safely?

• 2:45Speaker 02

  And what makes this one tomorrow so special?

• 2:48Speaker 01

  You're listening to Short Wave, the science podcast from NPR.

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• 4:21Speaker 01

  Okay, Gina, let's start really basic.

• 4:24Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 4:24Speaker 01

  How does a solar eclipse happen in the first place?

• 4:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, so basically, it's just when the moon gets directly in between the sun and the earth, and it casts a shadow. And that shadow of the moon on earth is what differentiates a partial solar eclipse from a total one.

• 4:38Speaker 03

  A total solar eclipse is visible only along a narrow path that snakes across the surface of the earth. It's called the path of totality.

• 4:48Speaker 02

  And that path of totality is called the umbra. Umbra is Latin for shadow, hence Byron saying he was an umbra file earlier.

• 4:55Speaker 03

  So there's a broad area where you can see a partial eclipse, but there's a that the moon completely blocks the sun. So in order to see the total eclipse, you need to be in this so-called path of totality.

• 5:08Speaker 02

  But for those who can't make it to the path of totality, there's the penumbra, and that's the larger path of the moon shadow.

• 5:14Speaker 01

  Got it. Okay, okay. So you were saying you saw the partial eclipse in 2017 because you weren't in the umbra, like I was, you were in the penumbra.

• 5:22Speaker 02

  Yeah, you're rubbing it in, but yes.

• 5:27Speaker 01

  Okay, well, I'll move on. So for this eclipse tomorrow in Spain and Iceland and Greenland, what's the best way for people to sneak a peek at that one?

• 5:35Speaker 02

  You gotta wear proper eye protection, please, because staring at the sun directly will really mess up your eyes. If you take a quick look, that might be okay, but if you keep looking, you could run the risk of damaging your retina permanently, possibly.

• 5:48Speaker 05

  Typically, what will happen is you look at the eclipse as it is happening without protection. Your eyes don't appear to be damaged, you know, everything's fine. The next morning, you wake up, and when you look in the bathroom mirror, or you look across the breakfast table at your nearest and dearest, you suddenly realize you can't see their face.

• 6:10Speaker 02

  Yeah, you can have this like blurry vision. That was Ralph Chu, another eclipse chaser, and also an eye specialist at the University of Waterloo in Canada. NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfield Boy spoke with him about how your eyes getting burned by the sun is terrible and can have long-lasting effects.

• 6:27Speaker 01

  Which is a huge reason to get your hands on some eclipse glasses. I know the American Astronomical Society has a list of vetted sources for legitimate eclipse glasses on their website, so we'll link that list in our show notes.

• 6:38Speaker 02

  Yeah. And even if you aren't looking at the sun, you'll see some strange light effects before you actually see totality, or if you're viewing a partial solar eclipse.

• 6:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, wait, say more about that.

• 6:50Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, I'll let David explain.

• 6:52Speaker 03

  The lighting effects can be very weird because before you get to the total eclipse, you have a progressive partial eclipse as the moon slowly covers the sun. And so over the course of an hour, an hour and a quarter, the sunlight will be very slowly dimming, and it's as if you're in some, in a room in a house, and someone is very slowly turning down the dimmer switch. And for most of that time, your eyes are adjusting, and you don't notice it. But then there's a point at which the light's getting so dim that your eyes can't adjust, and weird things happen. So the, your eyes are less able to see color, and so it's as if the landscape is losing its color.

• 7:33Speaker 02

  So that, you know, 2017 eclipse that we keep on talking about that I missed the totality, but it was a partial eclipse, I was actually reading The Hobbit to my daughter in Billingham, Washington, outside. And as I was reading the book, I started to notice things getting like visibly darker, like it was dusk, and the colors started going away. It felt so strange. And eventually, I couldn't read the book's text anymore.

• 7:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, I remember this kind of like gradual darkness, too.

• 7:58Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:59Speaker 01

  Did you see the weird shadows?

• 8:01Speaker 02

  Yes, so there were these moon-shaped shadows all over our driveway. It was surreal.

• 8:06Speaker 03

  If you look under a tree, the spaces between leaves or branches will act as pinhole projectors. So they will project onto the ground the shape of the sun. And so you'll see tiny little crescents everywhere.

• 8:20Speaker 02

  Yeah, and as the eclipse approaches, those shadows, and all shadows, they get crisper.

• 8:25Speaker 03

  And so if you have the sun behind you and you look at your shadow on the ground, you might see individual hairs on your head. It's just very odd, and sometimes you can't quite put your finger on what it is that you're seeing, but you know that it's wrong. And it just gets wronger and wronger as totality approaches.

• 8:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, and then suddenly, it's nighttime. It gets cold, like the birds stop singing. Then you take off your solar glasses, and you can look at the sun. It's safe now.

• 8:54Speaker 01

  Yes, this is my favorite part. It kind of feels like cheating, being able to take off the eclipse glasses during totality, and then they're like, okay, you can look directly at the sun.

• 9:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, and once you do, there's something really special to look at, something that you can't see with your naked eye any other time.

• 9:08Speaker 03

  And what you're actually looking at is the sun's outer atmosphere, which is called the solar corona.

• 9:14Speaker 02

  The solar corona looks like a ring around the sun, and it's this brilliant circle of light.

• 9:19Speaker 03

  And it's the most dazzling sight in the heavens. It's this beautiful textured thing. It looks sort of like a wreath or a crown, and it's got, it's like it's made out of tinsel or strands of silk. It shimmers in space. It's different every time.

• 9:36Speaker 02

  It's a really beautiful experience, and tomorrow's eclipse will last up to a few minutes for those in the path of totality, and they'll be able to see that. And tomorrow's eclipse is also special because it's happening at a certain time of day that's pretty rare for these events.

• 9:51Speaker 01

  Oh, wait, what time?

• 9:52Speaker 02

  Sunset. And this is actually quite rare because in the summer, the sun is pretty high in the sky, so if it wasn't happening around this time, you know, everything would be fine. Now, if people don't already have a specific viewing spot in mind, it might be a little tricky to find a good place. But a quick tip is to get away from tall things like buildings or mountains that could block the view, because, you know, sunset, it's coming down. If you happen to be in Spain, a lot of eclipse chaser websites are listing the best locations in Spain to view it.

• 10:19Speaker 01

  Got it. I mean, what about the weather? Like, I imagine if it's cloudy or rainy or whatever, the view might not be so good.

• 10:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, this is a good question, and this is a big concern for me in 2024, when I finally got to see a total solar eclipse. My family and I, we drove up to Buffalo, where my partner's from, and we were afraid that after all that effort, hours of driving, it might be too cloudy to see it. You know, it was April.

• 10:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 10:43Speaker 02

  And then we woke up that day, thick layer of clouds in the sky, typical Buffalo, and And as the day went on, the clouds thinned a little, but we still couldn't see the sun totally. So then, like magic, as soon as totality happened, the clouds opened up around the sun and we saw it. Everyone was so surprised. And then I told all my friends that I was a witch.

• 11:07Speaker 01

  Iconic. Classic Gina.

• 11:09Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 11:10Speaker 01

  OK, but for me, you're a loyal producer, who knows that you are not actually a witch, but an astrophysicist.

• 11:15Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 11:16Speaker 01

  Can you explain why would the clouds move like that?

• 11:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, so I was looking this up, and there's some research that's been done around how solar eclipses, or really any reduction in sunlight, can affect weather, especially when there's a change that quick. Remember, it gets colder and stuff, too. David had some thoughts on this subject.

• 11:36Speaker 03

  Total eclipses change the weather. Under some conditions, they can cause clouds to clear up. Because all of a sudden, the sunlight and the sun's warmth are being cut off. And that changes the evaporation of moisture from the surface and convection.

• 11:54Speaker 01

  So cool.

• 11:55Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 11:55Speaker 01

  OK, so back to tomorrow's eclipse. We assume many of our listeners are probably not in Europe.

• 12:00Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 12:00Speaker 01

  So for anyone outside the path of totality tomorrow, or in the US who maybe couldn't catch a flight.

• 12:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 12:06Speaker 01

  When is the next one that'll be viewable from here, in the States?

• 12:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, so the next total solar eclipse that'll be visible in the lower 48 states is coming on August 22, 2044. But that one will be mostly limited to Montana and North Dakota. If that's not feasible for people, they and we can take comfort in knowing that the next big one to stretch across the US coasts, like the one we just had in 2024, will be just a year after that, in 2045, August 12. And fun fact, it's commonly referred to as the Great American Solar Eclipse because it'll be visible coast to coast, from California to Florida.

• 12:46Speaker 01

  OK, but that's still like almost 20 years from now.

• 12:49Speaker 02

  Yeah. But solar eclipses happen all over the world, every year and a half-ish. So if you really want to see one sooner, you could travel to another country to see it. Some people do that. It's called eclipse tourism. There will be one in Northern Africa, swinging from Morocco to Egypt next year around this time. And another one in New Zealand and Australia the year after that.

• 13:09Speaker 01

  OK. Well, either way, Regina Barber, thank you for enlightening me with this reporting.

• 13:14Speaker 02

  Hannah Shin, it was my pleasure.

• 13:17Speaker 01

  This episode was produced by Juan Diego Ramirez. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez and Tyler Drone. Just check the facts.

• 13:23Speaker 02

  The audio engineer was An Li. I'm Regina Barber.

• 13:26Speaker 01

  And I'm Hannah Shin. Thank you so much for listening to Short Wave from NPR.

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