What to Expect on April 8th

A solar eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth. When this happens, the moon blocks the sun’s light from reaching Earth. In some cases, the moon does not block out all of the light, which is called a partial solar eclipse. Even though there are total eclipses, the sun is not completely blocked out everywhere worldwide when this happens. The places where people cannot see the sun at all are in what is called the “path of totality.” During these events, the sun is blocked out but there is still some light that can be seen; this is called the corona, which is the sun’s atmosphere. Since the only light that can be seen is the corona, scientists use this to their advantage to study the sun’s atmosphere during eclipses. 

Soon there will be a solar eclipse happening on Monday, April 8th, and the path of totality will start in Southwestern Texas, then proceed to move northeast, going over the northern part of Illinois, central and southern Indiana, Cleveland, Ohio, Buffalo, New York, and into some parts of Maine. Since we live in Maryland, we are not in the path of totality. In Baltimore areas in Maryland, the eclipse can be seen at 3:21 PM with an 88.7 percent totality, which means that the sun will not be entirely covered, but most of it will be.

Warning: Do not look at the eclipse without the proper protection; NASA-approved sunglasses can be easily found on Amazon. After you have those glasses, you may look at the eclipse.

In years before solar eclipses were explained, many different cultures had different ideas of what was happening and why. In China, solar eclipses were explained as the sun being eaten by a celestial dragon. During these eclipses, the people in China would make loud noises and bang drums in an attempt to scare off the dragon from eating the sun. It seemed like it worked every time since the sun kept coming back. 

In old Hindu culture, it was believed that a demon named Rahu had sought out the nectar of the gods so that he could gain immortality, but he was discovered by the god Vishnu. After this discovery, Vishnu chopped off Rahu’s head and sent his head flying around the Earth, always chasing after the sun. It has been said that sometimes Rahu will catch up to the sun and attempt to eat it, but the sun always returns because Rahu did not have a throat. 

In some old Native American cultures, there was a legend about a huge mischievous black squirrel that would attempt to gnaw away at the sun, similar to the ancient Chinese beliefs. In other Native American legends, a boy got burnt by the sun and wanted his revenge. After catching the sun with a snare (a type of trap used to be thrown around an animal’s neck and tightened) and causing an eclipse, he would lose it because the animals of the forest would chew the trap to release the sun. 

Don’t forget to get out and see the eclipse after school on Monday, April 8th. According to the NASA website, the U.S. will not see another total eclipse until 2044!