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If there is one day in Syracuse that shouldn’t be overcast, rainy or snowy, it is next Monday. On April 8 at 3:23 p.m., a total solar eclipse will occur over Syracuse skies.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime event because Syracuse is in the path of totality, so bring proper viewing devices, a plan for the best viewing and, most importantly, enjoy the moment.

Important Safety Guidelines:

Totality is the peak of a total solar eclipse, when the moon completely blocks the light of the sun. You must have proper eye protection if you are going to look directly at the sun when the moon is not in totality.

Before and after the total eclipse, a partial eclipse occurs. Any sliver of the exposed sun’s surface can severely damage the unaided eye, because it is the same as looking at the sun on a normal day.

The most popular choice for eye protection are solar eclipse glasses, but you may opt for a safe hand-held solar viewer. The device you choose to look at the sun with must be compliant with the ISO 12312-2 international standard, meaning legitimate glasses must be stamped with the ISO logo.

For a limited time, solar eclipse glasses are being distributed all over Syracuse University’s campus. If your solar viewing device is scratched, torn or damaged, do not use it. Any type of sunglasses, potential clouds or other filters are not safe options to observe the sun.

When using proper viewing devices, do not look through binoculars, telescopes or other magnifiers. If you do not wish to view the sun directly before or after totality, there are various camera obscuras, pinhole projectors or eclipse projectors that are alternatives.

The naked eye can only safely view the eclipse when it is in totality, or when it is completely dark. Totality is over the moment the sun reappears through solar eclipse glasses. Totality in Syracuse will last a little over one minute, according to the SU physics department.

What is a solar eclipse?

During the new phase of the moon, the moon lines up between the Earth and the sun. When the new moon blocks a certain amount of the sun’s surface from Earth’s view, then a solar eclipse occurs.

A solar eclipse does not occur every new moon because the moon’s orbit around Earth is inclined by five degrees relative to Earth’s orbit around the sun. This makes the specific alignment required for a solar eclipse infrequent. However, there is an average of two to five solar eclipses around the world in a year.

Of these solar eclipses, there are annular solar eclipses, hybrid solar eclipses, partial solar eclipses and total solar eclipses. Total eclipses are the second most rare with hybrid solar eclipses being the most rare.

How is the upcoming total eclipse different from the total eclipse in August 2017?

Total solar eclipses can be seen from the same place on Earth’s surface once every 360 to 400 years on average.

“Subtracting the prediction for when the next (total) solar eclipse is (by the date of the previous eclipse in the same location), that will give you some number. It could be 100 years, it could be 1,000 years,” said Daniel Paradiso, a second-year physics Ph.D. student at SU, about the next total solar eclipse. “Once you do that for all of the places around the globe, and average them all up, usually the number that is quoted is around 400 years.”

In Carbondale, Illinois, the town will experience two total solar eclipses within seven years. Syracuse’s last total solar eclipse was on Jan. 24, 1925, but the city was six miles outside of the path of totality, according to the SU physics department.

This year’s eclipse may be the only total solar eclipse in our lifetimes where totality is visible from Syracuse. The next total solar eclipse over New York state will be Oct. 26, 2144.

During the April 8 total solar eclipse, the path of totality is up to 122 miles wide while August 2017’s eclipse was about 71 miles wide. August 2017’s total solar eclipse traveled from the West Coast to the East Coast, and the upcoming total solar eclipse travels in a northwest direction, beginning in southern Texas.

More people in the United States can view the total eclipse this Monday than in 2017 because of the path and new route. The estimated time in totality is longer for the 2024 total eclipse, nearly two minutes longer at its greatest at four minutes, 28 seconds.

For the corona, the uppermost atmosphere of the sun, which is visible around the moon during a total solar eclipse, there may be a more spectacular show for the 2024 eclipse.

The sun will be “in or near solar maximum”, which would mean there is a possibility to see stronger solar eruptions. Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and constellations may also be visible during totality. If you are lucky enough, you may be able to faintly see a comet pass around Jupiter.

What should you consider if you would like to take photos?

Given the totality in Syracuse lasts for a little bit over a minute, you should not take photos of the eclipse when it is not in totality. Anything that damages your eyes will also damage your camera lens unless you have a proper solar filter.

Walter Freeman, an SU physics associate teaching professor, said he enjoys photography of both nature and astronomical subjects.

“The eclipse is a profoundly astonishing opportunity to make art, right? It is also going to be a beautiful and human moment and I don’t want to spend the entirety of my few minutes of totality thinking about ISO settings,” Freeman said. “So I haven’t decided if I’m going to take any pictures at all. If I do, it may be a carefully set up sort of artistic moment.”

The eclipse will be an unforgettable moment to share with your friends and experience during your time at Syracuse. Make sure to enjoy the moment, Freeman said.

“What I would encourage people to think about, particularly people who are looking to memorialize the occasion, is this will be a very human occasion,” Freeman said. “If you’re on the quad, there’ll be thousands of people on the quad all looking up. When’s the last time you saw thousands of people all looking up?”

Published on April 3, 2024 at 11:46 pm