Eclipse Spectacular Edition 🌚

Today’s eclipse timeline

Today’s the day 🥳 The moon’s shadow will cover the sun in its entirety in parts of the United States, beginning in San Antonio, Texas at roughly 11:33 AM PST / 1:33 PM CST / 2:33 PM EST. 

The path of totality – the angle where viewers on Earth will experience a sunless sky – will continue moving northeast, ending in Maine between 3:28 PM and 4:35 PM EST. 

Those lucky enough to catch a glimpse will view the eclipse in two stages:

🌘 Partial eclipse, where the sun appears to have a crescent shape for 70 – 80 minutes. Eclipse glasses must be worn during this time.

🌚 Totality, where sunlight disappears and the sky darkens for 2 – 4 minutes. Eclipse glasses can be momentarily removed, but must be worn as soon as the sun returns to a crescent shape.

Compared to the last solar eclipse in 2017, the path of totality is almost 60% wider and the duration of the eclipse is about 60% longer 👏

But you already knew all of that 👀Here’s what you may not know about today’s celestial event!

The New York prisoners who sued for the right to watch 

Six men incarcerated at a New York correctional facility are officially allowed to watch today’s eclipse after suing for their right to view 🌝

🌜 The inmates filed the suit in late March after it was announced that their facility would be on lockdown during the eclipse. 

🌜 The suit argued the lockdown violated the men’s constitutional right to practice their faiths during a religiously significant event. The group included a Baptist, a Muslim, an atheist, a Seventh-Day Adventist, and two Santeria practitioners. 

 🌜The inmates and the New York corrections department reached a settlement last week, allowing them to view the celestial event in exchange for dropping the suit. 

This win for space enthusiasts proves that no matter who you are or what you believe, the eclipse deserves to be observed 👏

Airbnb bookings mirror the path of totality

Millions of Americans spent the weekend traveling across the country to reach the eclipse’s narrow path of totality. 

🔭 Hotels, rentals, and campsites have been completely booked out for weeks – so much so that Airbnb’s booking data perfectly mirrors the path of the eclipse:

🔭 This path includes many small towns and rural areas that don’t usually welcome so many tourists at once.

🔭 The biggest preparation concerns for town leaders are traffic, restrooms, gas supply, phone service outages, and not enough law enforcement officials.

We’ll have to wait and see how the chaos unfolds, but the eclipse’s path gives Americans from different backgrounds the unique opportunity to come together around a historic event 🤝

Ancient legends surrounding solar eclipses 

Eclipses have always sparked the human imagination:

🌝 Indigenous Navajo believed the Sun goes into labor during eclipses to give birth to new suns. 

🌝 Hindu mythology states that during eclipses, the decapitated deity Rahu gets his head back and takes revenge by devouring the sun.

🌝 Ancient Korean myth held that ‘fire-dogs’ or ‘celestial dogs’ attacked the sun and moon during eclipses to try and eat them.

🌝 Early Babylonian records blame the king’s displeasure for the ominous feeling of solar eclipses. 

🌝 Some Chinese legends included stories of celestial dragons devouring the sun during eclipses. 

These legends and similar folklore often include protection rituals, like keeping pregnant women inside or making loud noises to drive away misfortune 💫

Even animals agree – Eclipses simply feel weird

One of the more eerie effects of solar eclipses is strange animal behavior 🐾 You might notice changes when the sun is about 75% covered:

🌑 Birds appear to have the most dramatic reactions, usually flocking about 20 minutes before totality, then falling completely silent.

🌑 Insects also go quiet, mimicking their nighttime behavior. When the sun is back, some species like bees may act disoriented.

🌑 Rodents like ground squirrels have been observed retreating to burrows and dens right at the moment of totality. 

🌑 Barn animals will start to get ready for sleep, walking back to the barn or laying down. 

Considering our historic reactions to solar eclipses, we seem to have a lot in common with animals on days like today 🤷

Tales from past eclipses

Nearly every eclipse has a story to tell:

⏳ In 1932, President Franklin D. Roosevelt boarded a US naval ship in the Atlantic to reach an optimal viewing point, describing the experience as "one of the most sublime sights anyone could observe."

⏳ In 1715, Edmond Halley (of Halley’s Comet) identified the celestial mechanics behind eclipses for the first time, realizing the moon’s shadow caused the sun’s disappearance. 

⏳ In 1544, superstitious Europeans thought the world was ending, and spent the day and night of the eclipse rioting, drinking, and feasting. Renaissance mathematician Michael Mastlin described the sun "as black as burnt wood or coal."

⏳ In 585 BC, Greek historian Herodotus claimed that a solar eclipse stopped a battle between the Medes and Lydians because they saw it as a sign from the gods to stop fighting. 

⏳ In 2137 BC, ancient Chinese astronomers recorded one of the earliest mentions of solar eclipses. The event was so shocking that two royal astronomers were executed for failing to predict it.

What will they say about the 2024 eclipse? 🤔

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