Solar spectacle: 15 questions and answers about Monday’s solar eclipse

Let’s avert our eyes from the Maine Legislature for a moment and look toward the skies.

Actually, before you do that, make sure you have a pair of special solar viewers. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages, we have a solar eclipse on the way. Enjoy these 15 questions and answers — informed by actual experts — about the big event.

Wait! There’s going to be a solar eclipse?

Yes! On Monday, April 8, 2024, to be precise. The partial eclipse will be visible from roughly 2:20 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., with the total eclipse lasting from 3:28 p.m. to 3:35 p.m., depending on your location in the state.

What’s a solar eclipse again?

According to our friends at NASA: “A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk.”

Just imagine that you’re watching an important TV program and your beloved spouse passes in front of the set. They instantly become much less beloved.

Now, let’s equate your TV set with the sun and your spouse with the moon. It’s just like that.

Who will get to see it?

Everyone in Maine should witness a significant degree of the solar eclipse. People on the coast will see the least, though will still see most of the sun covered. If you want to watch the full Monty, so to speak, of 100% coverage, you have to head to the mountains and northernmost part of the state. Nearly half of Maine will experience totality.

This map show the path of a total solar eclipse across the United States next week. Areas outside of the path of totality will still see most of the sun obscured. (NASA)

How much will I see if I, you know, decide against traveling?

I advise this handy website, sponsored by a NASA grant. It lets you to enter any ZIP code and reveals the eclipse extent for your neighborhood. Those in Kittery will see about 95% coverage while Eastport will have 97.95% coverage.

Any advice on watching it?

Don’t look at the eclipse with your naked eyes. Let me repeat that, in italics: Don’t look at the eclipse with your naked eyes.

The sun is usually so bright that we can’t physically stand to look at it. An eclipse cuts down on the brightness, but doesn’t stop solar radiation that can cause major vision damage. This happens to people. It literally scars their retinas. They see a phantom image of the sun for the rest of their lives.

But I can still sneak a peek, right?

Please don’t do that. If you don’t believe me, listen to Shannon Schmoll, the director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University.

“We don’t ever, ever want to look directly at the sun. It will harm our eyes and can cause permanent damage,” she told journalists during a briefing organized by SciLine last week. “So to look at this, you need to use either eclipse glasses or some sort of eclipse viewers.”

So where do I find those solar viewers?

The American Astronomical Society maintains a list of reputable manufacturers and retailers. For the record, they do not recommend going to your prominent online retailer of choice and searching for “cheap eclipse glasses.” You can do better. For goodness’ sake, think of those eyes.

Many school districts and libraries in Maine have been handing them out, so it’s worth checking around your local community.

Could I just use a camera instead?

Nope. An unfiltered look at the eclipse will leave your fancy digital camera literally smoking. You need a specialized lens filter to take photos of the event with a standalone or phone camera.

Okay, okay. Let’s get glasses and filters aplenty. But does this mean the world is about to end?

No. Millennia of eclipses have come and gone, and the world remains, for better or worse.

People are handling this totally normally and rationally online, right?

Haha. Of course they aren’t!

A bonkers story from online technology website Gizmodo rounds up some of the wilder claims circulating online. Among them: The eclipse will bring down electrical grids and cellphone service, it will disrupt the “simulation” in which we all live, and assorted Biblical nonsense.

Will animals act all weird?

Take a read through the briefing mentioned above. In short, we know that birds and insects quiet down during an eclipse, but they don’t freak out or anything.

“The eclipse is strong enough to suppress that daytime diurnal activity — of day-flying insects and birds going to roost — but it’s not strong enough to initiate the kind of typical nocturnal behaviors we see at sunset,” said Andrew Farnsworth of the Center for Avian Population Studies at the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology.

Any other safety tips?

Indeed. Maine Gov. Janet Mills and other officials held a press conference highlighting the best ways to safely take in the eclipse. Their suggestions include: make a plan ahead of time, dress warm, bring a physical map, fuel up and consider an emergency car kit.

Also among the tips, don’t drive with your eclipse glasses on.

Additional safety and travel information can be found on the state’s Eclipse Hub. The portal, which will be continuously updated with information, can be found at http://www.maine.gov/eclipse2024.

Any events in Maine I should know about?

You can find a great breakdown of the Pine Tree State’s solar showcase events at the official Maine Office of Tourism website. Houlton, the last town in the continental U.S. to see the event and one of the places to experience the longest period of total darkness in Maine, has a whole line-up of events. Sugarloaf ski mountain, which falls within the path of totality is hosting a skiclipse party. NASA’s website highlights citizen science projects and music at the Loring Jobs Corps Center in Limestone.

When will we get to do this again?

That’s a great question! The next eclipse to reach Maine won’t be until 2079. This article from Astronomy discusses why and how often eclipses occur.

Is this good for the country in some way?

I can’t imagine it being good or bad for the United States or Maine. However, the Washington Post opinion section bravely charged forward with a hot take.

“A four-minute spectacle will not repair the fabric of our country rent by years of mutual distrust, yet if enough of us stand in the path of the moon’s shadow on April 8, the eclipse may remind us of the unity we long to restore,” wrote science correspondent David Baron.

This piece was adapted for Maine. The original was published at the Kansas Reflector, which like Maine Morning Star, is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.