Solar Eclipse 2024: Map of where to watch a rare event on April 8

Want to check a solar eclipse off your bucket list? Well, 2024 could be the year.

Parts of North America will be able to see a rare total solar eclipse on April 8, while parts of Europe may see a partial solar eclipse.

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But remember that the sun isn’t the only oddity you can observe during a solar eclipse; Animals, the wind and radio waves can also behave strangely.

From the USA

The total solar eclipse will begin over the South Pacific and across North America, Mexico, the United States and Canada.

The event will kick off around 11:07 a.m. PDT on Mexico’s Pacific coast before entering the US in Texas.

From there it travels 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, according to NASA.

The rare exhibit will then enter Canada via Southern Ontario and continue via Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton.

The eclipse is forecast to leave North America at 5:16 PM NDT on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

NASA has more information on the exact times you can see the total solar eclipse in your nearest city here.

From Great Britain and Ireland

Britain and Ireland will unfortunately not experience totality when it comes to this solar eclipse.

And some parts of Britain won’t see anything different at all.

Because the Earth is a sphere, a partial solar eclipse will only be visible from parts of Britain and Ireland when the sun sets.

You can watch the 2022 partial solar eclipse over Scotland in the video above.

The amount of eclipse observed will vary by location, but Wales, Scotland, the north west of England and the deep south west will be the luckiest.

Meanwhile, all of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will see the partial eclipse.

As the sun sets, the partial solar eclipse will appear in these regions at approximately 7:54 PM GMT.

Sky Live has more information on the exact times you can see the partial solar eclipse near you here.

The next total solar eclipse in Europe will occur on August 12, 2026 in Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain.

How to watch a solar eclipse

Spectators should always be careful during a solar eclipse.

You should never look directly at the sun without proper eye protection, including:

• Eclipse glasses
• Sun filters
• Solar telescope

Everyone in North America will need to wear eclipse glasses or use solar filters to safely view this event – ​​even through cameras or binoculars.

Cameras and binoculars may only be used with solar filters during the sharing phases.

If you want to capture the corona on camera, you must remove the solar filters during totality.

But you have to keep an eye on the time so that you know when the sun is about to rise again, otherwise it can damage your camera and your eyes.