Almost one billion people in America to witness the eclipse of the Sun

On Saturday, October 14th, nearly one billion people across North and South America will have the opportunity to witness a captivating celestial event: a solar eclipse. During this event, the new moon will move between the Sun and Earth.

This particular eclipse is classified as an annular eclipse, characterized by a radiant ring of sunlight surrounding the moon’s silhouette at the midpoint of the phenomenon. In an annular eclipse, the Sun is never completely obscured, but the moon will be at a specific point in its orbit known as apogee, the farthest distance from Earth. On the day of the eclipse, the new moon will be approximately 246,707 miles (397,037 km) away.

The eclipse will be partially visible in the United States, commencing over the North Pacific Ocean and following a southeast trajectory before reaching the Oregon coast at 9:15 am Pacific Daylight Time. Over the next 46 minutes, the annular phase will be observable from parts of nine states, spanning from Oregon to Texas.

The duration of annularity along the eclipse’s central path will vary, increasing from 4 minutes and 34 seconds at the Pacific coast of Oregon to 5 minutes and 2 seconds at the Texas Gulf Coast. Cities within this eclipse path, such as Eugene, Winnemucca (NV), Albuquerque, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi, will experience the mesmerizing “ring of fire” effect. After traversing Texas, the eclipse path will extend over Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, continue through Central America, pass over northern Brazil, and conclude over the open waters of the South Atlantic.

Although the sky will not darken as it does during a deep partial eclipse, this spectacle promises to be extraordinary, drawing enthusiasts to accessible sections of the eclipse track.

This celestial occurrence is the result of the moon’s intricate orbital dynamics, influenced primarily by the gravitational pull of the Sun, planets, and Earth. The moon is gradually receding from the Earth due to tidal effects, causing it to spiral outward and assume a more distant orbit. As the moon moves farther away, its apparent size diminishes, eventually reaching a point where it is too distant for its dark umbral shadow to reach Earth, precluding the occurrence of total solar eclipses.