More Total Eclipse

The top of the world will see a total solar eclipse tomorrow. A partial eclipse will encompass a wider slice of the globe, including Alaska and parts of the northeastern United States. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly between Earth and the Sun, blocking the Sun from view. The Sun’s hot but faint outer atmosphere, the corona, looks like silvery tendrils radiating away from the Moon. This eclipse begins when the lunar shadow first touches Earth, over northeastern Russia. The eclipse path then passes near the north pole, slides across parts of Greenland and Iceland, and finally over northern Spain before vanishing over the Mediterranean Sea. At its peak, off the coast of Iceland, totality will last for 2 minutes, 18 seconds. A partial eclipse, where the Moon covers only a portion of the solar disk, will flank that path. In addition to parts of North America, it’ll encompass much of western Europe and western Africa. From far-northern Alaska, the Moon will cover more than half of the Sun’s disk, at about 8:30 a.m. From Anchorage, about a quarter of the Sun will be covered. And from the northeast, the greatest eclipse takes place in northern Maine, shortly before 2 p.m. If you’re in one of those areas, remember to protect your eyes. Watch the eclipse only through special glasses or dark welder’s glass, and never look at the unfiltered Sun. Script by Damond Benningfield