Total solar eclipse — North America (2024)
The Great North American Eclipse crossed Mexico, the US and Canada with 30 million people inside the path — Dallas saw 3m52s of totality over downtown.
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The moment of Total solar eclipse — North America (2024): https://nowsky.org/e/solar-eclipse-2024 — opens at the right place and time, replayable, no login.
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The story
On 8 April 2024 the umbra came ashore at Mazatlán, Mexico, crossed Texas, the Ohio valley and New England, and left through Newfoundland. The path was up to 199 km wide and held about thirty million people — one of the most-watched total eclipses in history. Downtown Dallas had 3 minutes 52 seconds of black Sun around 1:40 in the afternoon.
Solar activity made it special in a second way. With the Sun near the maximum of its eleven-year cycle, the corona streamed out long in every direction at totality and several pink prominences stood on the limb, visible to the naked eye — nothing like the tidy minimum corona of 2017.
The longest totality, 4 minutes 28 seconds, fell near Nazas in Durango, Mexico. The US track ran from Eagle Pass through Dallas, Little Rock, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo and Burlington; in Canada it took in Niagara, the area south of Montréal, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. Texas was clear; in parts of the Northeast cloud decided the day.
The scale of shared experience was itself a record: tens of millions on NASA's live stream, and city-wide cheers at totality preserved on video. The sky replay slows down over Dallas that day, and the orbit view looks down on the Sun–Moon–Earth alignment from space. The next total eclipse to cross the continent is 12 August 2045.
Why it matters
A solar-maximum eclipse is prime time for coronal research. Two NASA WB-57 high-altitude aircraft flew along the shadow imaging the corona in the infrared, while ground campaigns along the whole path measured magnetic structure with polarising cameras. An active corona differs in structure from a quiet one, and the 2017–2024 pair gives a valuable comparison.
Two totals crossing the same continent seven years apart made a repeat experiment for citizen science: ionospheric changes, temperature drops, animal behaviour and even soundscapes were measured twice by the same methods, turning anecdotes into statistics.
The social scale was large too. Hotels along the path sold out a year in advance, and small Texas towns hosted several times their population — a case study in how one astronomical event moves a continent.
How to watch
Totality track: Mazatlán (11:07 MST) → Durango and Torreón → Eagle Pass and Dallas (13:40 CDT) → Little Rock → Indianapolis and Cleveland → Buffalo and Niagara → Burlington and south of Montréal → New Brunswick and Newfoundland (17:13 NDT). Partial phases covered all of North America. Not visible from Korea.
During totality filters come off and the corona is safe to view; the partial phases before and after require certified glasses. Most path cities handed out free glasses in 2024, and official apps gave the filters-off time to the second for each location.
The sky replay tracks the Sun over Dallas and slows near maximum; change the location to Mazatlán or Buffalo for that city's timing and duration, and the orbit replay shows the alignment from space.
See this for yourself — open that sky at that moment · replay the moment in the orbit view
Background
The eclipse is the 30th of Saros 139. Its predecessor on 29 March 2006 crossed Africa and Turkey; its successor on 20 April 2042 crosses South-East Asia. Series 139 is young and its totalities are still lengthening — in 2186 it produces the longest total eclipse computable, 7 minutes 29 seconds.
The path crossed the October 2023 annular in Texas and the August 2017 total near Carbondale in southern Illinois, making Carbondale the only US town to see two totalities seven years apart.
North America's next totals are 30 March 2033 in Alaska, 23 August 2044 over western Canada and Montana, and 12 August 2045 from California to Florida.
The eclipse of 8 April 2024 belongs to Saros 139; the previous member was the eclipse of 29 March 2006 over Africa and Turkey, and the next is 20 April 2042 over Southeast Asia. The path came ashore at Mazatlán in Mexico, crossed Texas, Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio and upstate New York, and left through Montreal and Newfoundland in Canada, with maximum totality of 4 minutes 28 seconds near Torreón, Mexico. Falling at solar maximum, the corona flared in every direction, and red prominences on the Sun’s rim visible to the naked eye during totality were the eclipse’s hallmark.
FAQ
How long was totality in Dallas?
3 minutes 52 seconds, around 1:40 p.m. The longest point was near Nazas, Mexico, at 4 minutes 28 seconds.
Why was the corona more dramatic than in 2017?
2024 fell near solar maximum, so the corona streamed in all directions with many prominences; 2017 was at minimum.
How many people lived inside the path?
About thirty million; counting partial phases, most of North America saw it.
When is the next North American total eclipse?
30 March 2033 in Alaska; the next continental crossing is 12 August 2045.
Related
- The 2017 Great American Eclipse
- The 2023 annular over the US West
- The 2027 total eclipse — six minutes of darkness
- The 2033 total eclipse over Alaska
- The Sun — object index
Times and figures are approximate — verify with official sources when planning travel. Simulation uses J2000 mean elements.