Monday will be a dark day in America. Not because of anything sinister, but because of a total eclipse.
And according to ABC News, good places to view the historic eclipse run from Texas to Maine.
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth and, for a short time, completely blocks the face of the sun, according to NASA.
“The track of the moon’s shadow across Earth’s surface is called the path of totality, and to witness the April 8 total solar eclipse, viewers must be within the 115-mile-wide path,” ABC News reported.
To discover when to see the solar eclipse in totality or the partial eclipse in locations across the U.S. outside of the path, go to NASA’s Eclipse Explorer tool.
Although 31 million people live inside the path of totality, some may have to travel to see it, Michael Zeiler, expert solar eclipse cartographer at GreatAmericanEclipse.com told ABC News.
“Eclipse chasers, or umbraphiles, are individuals who will do almost anything, and travel almost anywhere, to see totality,”according to the American Astronomical Society.
“There’s a very active community of solar eclipse chasers and we will go to any reasonable lengths to see solar eclipses anywhere in the world,” Zeiler said. “All of us are united in pursuing the unimaginable beauty of a total solar eclipse.”
Whether people view it from home or travel to see it, the viewership of the eclipse is expected to be huge.
“When you look at the number of people expected to come to the path of totality for the solar eclipse, we estimate those numbers are roughly the equivalent of 50 simultaneous Super Bowls across the nation, from Texas to Maine,” Zeiler said.
The states with a higher probability of seeing the eclipse are Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, per ABC News.
The next solar eclipse will be in Alaska in 2033, per Yahoo News.
Until Monday, cities and towns are preparing for an onslaught of visitors.
In Aroostook County, Maine, shop owners are stressed about the thousands of visitors expected to flock to this remote northern community that borders Canada, according to Yahoo News.
“It’s a little new for us here, so it is stressful,” Lindsay Anderson, manager of Brookside Bakery in Houlton, Maine, told the New York Times.
“Where are 20,000 people going to pee?” asked Tom Willard, co-owner of Market Square Antiques and Pawn, which is next door to the bakery.
Watching the eclipse safely is another concern.
“It is never safe to look directly at an eclipse without specialized eye protection. Looking at the intense light from the sun even for just a few seconds can cause permanent damage to the retina, the part of the eye directly responsible for vision,” per Yahoo News.
Wearing solar viewing glasses is the preferred way of watching an eclipse, per the outlet.
Now, people await to see how the weather is on Monday with viewing conditions ranging from good to poor.
