MICHIGAN, USA — For the first time in seven years, a total solar eclipse will be visible in the United States.
Millions of people in the path of totality will be plunged into darkness in the middle of the afternoon as the moon covers the sun.
According to NASA, the total solar eclipse will cross North America, beginning over the South Pacific Ocean.
If weather permits, the first location in North America that will experience totality is Mexico's Pacific coast.
The path of the eclipse will then enter the United States in Texas and travel through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
Small parts of Tennessee and Michigan will also experience the total solar eclipse.
The eclipse will enter Canada in southern Ontario and then continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton.
The eclipse will leave North America on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada.
When will the eclipse happen in the path of totality?
- Dallas, Texas
- Partial Eclipse - 12:33 p.m. CDT
- Totality Begins - 1:40 p.m. CDT
- Maximum Totality - 1:42 p.m. CDT
- Totality Ends - 1:44 p.m. CDT
- Partial Eclipse Ends - 3:02 p.m. CDT
- Idabel, Oklahoma
- Partial Eclipse - 12:28 p.m. CDT
- Totality Begins - 1:45 p.m. CDT
- Maximum Totality - 1:47 p.m. CDT
- Totality Ends - 1:49 p.m. CDT
- Partial Eclipse Ends - 3:06 p.m. CDT
- Little Rock, Arkansas
- Partial Eclipse - 12:33 p.m. CDT
- Totality Begins - 1:51 p.m. CDT
- Maximum Totality - 1:52 p.m. CDT
- Totality Ends - 1:54 p.m. CDT
- Partial Eclipse Ends - 3:11 p.m. CDT
- Poplar Bluff, Missouri
- Partial Eclipse - 12:39 p.m. CDT
- Totality Begins - 1:56 p.m. CDT
- Maximum Totality - 1:56 p.m. CDT
- Totality Ends - 2:00 p.m. CDT
- Partial Eclipse Ends - 3:15 p.m. CDT
- Paducah, Kentucky
- Partial Eclipse - 12:42 p.m. CDT
- Totality Begins - 2:00 p.m. CDT
- Maximum Totality - 2:01 p.m. CDT
- Totality Ends - 2:02 p.m. CDT
- Partial Eclipse Ends - 3:18 p.m. CDT
- Carbondale, Illinois
- Partial Eclipse - 12:42 p.m. CDT
- Totality Begins - 1:59 p.m. CDT
- Maximum Totality - 2:01 p.m. CDT
- Totality Ends - 2:03 p.m. CDT
- Partial Eclipse Ends - 3:18 p.m. CDT
- Evansville, Indiana
- Partial Eclipse - 12:45 p.m. CDT
- Totality Begins - 2:02 p.m. CDT
- Maximum Totality - 2:04 p.m. CDT
- Totality Ends - 2:05 p.m. CDT
- Partial Eclipse Ends - 3:20 p.m. CDT
- Erie, Pennsylvania
- Partial Eclipse - 1:59 p.m. EDT
- Totality Begins - 3:13 p.m. EDT
- Maximum Totality - 3:15 p.m. EDT
- Totality Ends - 3:17 p.m. EDT
- Partial Eclipse Ends - 4:29 p.m. EDT
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Partial Eclipse - 1:59 p.m. EDT
- Totality Begins - 3:13 p.m. EDT
- Maximum Totality - 3:15 p.m. EDT
- Totality Ends - 3:17 p.m. EDT
- Partial Eclipse Ends - 4:29 p.m. EDT
- Erie, Pennsylvania
- Partial Eclipse - 2:02 p.m. EDT
- Totality Begins - 3:16 p.m. EDT
- Maximum Totality - 3:18 p.m. EDT
- Totality Ends - 3:20 p.m. EDT
- Partial Eclipse Ends - 4:30 p.m. EDT
- Buffalo, New York
- Partial Eclipse - 2:04 p.m. EDT
- Totality Begins - 3:18 p.m. EDT
- Maximum Totality - 3:20 p.m. EDT
- Totality Ends - 3:22 p.m. EDT
- Partial Eclipse Ends - 4:32 p.m. EDT
- Burlington, Vermont
- Partial Eclipse - 2:14 p.m. EDT
- Totality Begins - 3:26 p.m. EDT
- Maximum Totality - 3:27 p.m. EDT
- Totality Ends - 3:29 p.m. EDT
- Partial Eclipse Ends - 4:37 p.m. EDT
- Lancaster, New Hampshire
- Partial Eclipse - 2:16 p.m. EDT
- Totality Begins - 3:27 p.m. EDT
- Maximum Totality - 3:29 p.m. EDT
- Totality Ends - 3:30 p.m. EDT
- Partial Eclipse Ends - 4:38 p.m. EDT
- Caribou, Maine
- Partial Eclipse - 2:22 p.m. EDT
- Totality Begins - 3:32 p.m. EDT
- Maximum Totality - 3:33 p.m. EDT
- Totality Ends - 3:34 p.m. EDT
- Partial Eclipse Ends - 4:40 p.m. EDT
When will the eclipse happen in Michigan?
The solar eclipse starts the afternoon of Monday, April 8 for Michiganders. The peak of the eclipse will be around 3:11 p.m. in Grand Rapids. Here's a full timeline of the eclipse in our area:
- 1:55 pm - First Contact - the partial eclipse begins when the edge of the Moon touches the edge of the sun.
- 2:17 pm - 20% Coverage - about one-fifth of the Sun's disk is covered by the Moon.
- 2:25 pm - Temperature Changes - the amount of solar energy decreases so temperatures may begin to cool slightly.
- 2:40 pm - Sky Darkens - as the eclipse progresses, the sky begins to darken.
- 2:48 pm - Weather Changes - conditions continue to change.
- 2:55 pm - Colors Fade - surroundings start to darken; colors turn grayish.
- 3:04 pm - Nature Reacts - animal and plant behavior affected.
- 3:11 pm - Maximum Eclipse
- 3:17 pm - Nature Returns - animals and plants are returning to normal.
- 3:34 pm - Sky Brightens - the sky and surroundings returning to normal.
- 3:30 pm - 20% Coverage - about one-fifth of the Sun's disk is covered by the Moon.
- 3:24 pm - Last Contact - the partial eclipse ends when the edge of the Moon leaves the edge of the sun.
Can you view the eclipse without glasses?
According to NASA, because it is a total solar eclipse it is only safe to view it without glasses when the moon completely covers the sun for a brief period of totality.
You'll know it's safe to look when you can't see any part of the sun through your solar eclipse glasses.
However, the glasses are essential during the phases before and after totality.
If you're in a place where you will only experience partial totality, eclipse glasses are necessary for the entirety of the eclipse. No period of time is safe to view the eclipse without them.
West Michigan residents can find glasses here.
When is the next total solar eclipse?
The last total solar eclipse the United States experienced was in 2017 and we won’t see another until 2044. Totality will only be visible in North Dakota and Montana.
According to NASA, calculations show that it will take about a thousand years for all of the lower 48 states to be able to view a total solar eclipse.
The next total solar eclipse that will travel coast to coast across the lower 48 states is in 2045.
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