Here’s how to convince friends and family to accompany you to the path of totality to see the total … [+] solar eclipse on April 8.
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“Oh My God!” “This is crazy! “I’ll be dreaming about this for the rest of my life!” You’ve heard all about what it’s like to experience the brief moments of totality—when the moon completely blocks the sun—yet you’re having trouble convincing others to come with you on an eclipse adventure. After all, they’ll say, if there’s an 85% eclipse where we live, then what’s the point of traveling to where it’s 100%? The expense, the time, the traffic … let’s not bother.
They’re misunderstanding totality. It’s not a sliding scale. If you’re in the path of totality, you experience an exhilarating total solar eclipse, but if you’re not, you don’t experience any of it.
Here’s the solution—you play them a short video. Or, rather, four short videos. One shows exactly what it’s like across the course of a few minutes when day turns to night, the other visually shows the difference between the path of totality and what the rest of North America will see, the third gives a little context in space, and the fourth is a short inspirational documentary about why eclipse chasers do what they do.
More than enough to convince anyone to come with you on your most spectacular and memorable adventure yet.
Video #1: Why totality is 10,000 times better than a 99% partial eclipse
Here’s a timelapse video from the shores of Palisades Reservoir, Idaho, on Monday, August 21, 2017, during the last total solar eclipse. Play it, then pause it at 40 seconds. If you’re somewhere close to, but not inside, the path of totality on April 8—such as southeastern Austin, the center of San Antonio or anywhere in Cincinnati, that will be your peak experience before the sun gradually becomes less covered, and it gets brighter again. Now play the video—what follows a few seconds later is totality! You can hear it in the voices. It’s mesmerizing.
Totality is an absolute state. You cannot be in partial totality—it does not exist, in the same way that you cannot be partially conscious or partially pregnant. The last slither of sun during a 99% partial solar eclipse provides enough light to see, and as totality begins the light drops by 10,000 times.
Video #2: Animation Of The Eclipse Across North America
This short video shows you exactly what will be seen from everywhere across North America—succinctly showing that unless you’re inside the path of totality, there’s really not much to get excited about.
Video #3: Flying Around The Moon’s Shadow
This 48-second video from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio shows and tells exactly what will happen on April 8 when the moon’s shadow rips across the surface of the Earth for 100 minutes.
It shows the narrow path of totality and exactly what’s going on from the point of view of a virtual camera that flies from the night side of the Earth and moon to the day side.
Video #4: Still Hooked
“I spent over three minutes in totality and the rest of my life with a new sense of the three-dimensionality of the solar system—these moments were among the most exhilarating of my life!” So says David Makepeace, a filmmaker at EclipseGuy.com, in this new version of his documentary “Still Hooked” about his adventures as an eclipse chaser and why his addiction has never gone away. “There’s a sense of being truly present for maybe the first time in your life—these are the rewards of being in the right place at the right time.”
If you ever wondered why eclipse chasers do what they do, Makepeace will convince you that it has nothing whatsoever to do with astronomy—and everything to do with feeling alive and in the moment.
I’m an expert on eclipses—the editor of WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com and author of The Complete Guide To The Great North American Eclipse of April 8, 2024 . For the very latest on the total solar eclipse—including travel and lodging options— check my main feed for new articles each day.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
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