Rare total solar eclipse

FE Team | Published: April 09, 2024 00:05:07

A man reads an information kiosk at Niagara Falls State Park ahead of a total solar eclipse across North America, in Niagara Falls, New York, on Monday. This year's path of totality is 115 miles (185 kilometers) wide and home to nearly 32 million Americans, with an additional 150 million living less than 200 miles from the strip. The next total solar eclipse that can be seen from a large part of North America won't come around until 2044. — AFP

Millions of people across North America were set to get the chance to experience a very special natural event on Monday as a total solar eclipse was scheduled to be visible from parts of Mexico, the United States (US) and Canada, report agencies.
The total eclipse - which occurs when the moon completely blocks out the sun -darkens skies for a few minutes "as if it were dawn or dusk", the US's NASA space agency explains.
The eclipse will not be visible from Bangladesh or other parts of Asia due to the timing of the event. As it will be nighttime in Bangladesh during the eclipse, direct observation from the country will not be possible. However, there are alternative ways to witness this celestial event such as to tune into live broadcasts provided by renowned space agencies and observatories.
Total eclipse was set to enter continental North America in Mazatlan, in the northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa, at 11:07am local time (18:07 GMT, BDT 0:07 AM). It was also set to exit the continent on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at 5:16pm local time (19:46 GMT, BDT 1:46 AM).
While the Earth and moon both orbit the sun, the moon also circles the Earth each month.
During a total solar eclipse, the moon passes directly between the sun and the Earth, completely blocking the sun's light on one side, and casting a shadow on a small area of Earth on its other side.
The dark inner part - the "umbra" - of this shadow creates a narrow track or "path" as the moon orbits the Earth. Areas on this path, and especially on its centreline, which fall directly under the shadow, are the ones from where the total eclipse will be visible.
This track is about 160km (100 miles) wide and 16,000km (10,000 miles) long.
"If it was a lunar eclipse, it would last for a few hours and people around the world could see it. But the difference is that total eclipses only happen over a specific path of that new moon," said Khady Adama Ndao, a NASA eclipse ambassador.
This eclipse only occurs during a new moon. And the moon's position in its orbit, relative to the sun and Earth, as well as the angles of all three at a specific time, are what create a total eclipse.