2024 Total Solar Eclipse
On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse moved across North America, passing over Mexico, United States, and Canada.
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April
Let's get ready
Safety
Learn how to safely view the solar eclipse.
Where and When
Explore where to watch the eclipse.
Watch Live
Join NASA's eclipse broadcast to see the eclipse across the path.
What to Expect
See what it's like to experience a total solar eclipse.
Eclipse Science
Dive into how scientists will study this eclipse.
Activities and Resources
Download activities, posters, and more for the solar eclipse.
On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse moved across North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk.
Safety is the number one priority when viewing a total solar eclipse. Be sure you're familiar with when you need to wear specialized eye protection designed for solar viewing by reviewing these safety guidelines.
2024 Total Solar Eclipse: Through the Eyes of NASA (Official Broadcast)
The Eclipse is over but you can still watch our broadcast of the total solar eclipse as it moved across North America on April 8, 2024, traveling through Mexico, across the United States from Texas to Maine, and out across Canada’s Atlantic coast.
Learn MoreSafety
Except during the brief total phase of a total solar eclipse, when the Moon completely blocks the Sun’s bright face, it is not safe to look directly at the Sun without specialized eye protection for solar viewing.
Viewing any part of the bright Sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the optics will instantly cause severe eye injury.
When watching the partial phases of the solar eclipse directly with your eyes, which happens before and after totality, you must look through safe solar viewing glasses (“eclipse glasses”) or a safe handheld solar viewer at all times. You can also use an indirect viewing method, such as a pinhole projector.
What to Expect
The April 8, 2024, eclipse will be a total solar eclipse. It will be the last total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States until 2044.
A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. People viewing the eclipse from locations where the Moon’s shadow completely covers the Sun – known as the path of totality – will experience a total solar eclipse. The sky will darken, as if it were dawn or dusk. Weather permitting, people along the path of totality will see the Sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, which is usually obscured by the bright face of the Sun.
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Where & When
The April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse will begin over the South Pacific Ocean and will cross North America, passing over Mexico, United States, and Canada.
Weather permitting, the first location in continental North America that will experience totality is Mexico’s Pacific coast at around 11:07 a.m. PDT.
The path of the eclipse continues from Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. The eclipse will exit continental North America on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at 5:16 p.m. NDT.
Contribute to NASA Science!
On April 8, 2024, participants both in and outside the eclipse path can join NASA to learn more about our Sun and Earth and the effects of a total solar eclipse.
From cell phone apps to use on April 8 to recording the sounds of the eclipse, there are opportunities for anyone to get involved with studying this celestial event.
Join a Project
How the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Is Different than the 2017 Eclipse
On April 8, the Moon’s shadow will sweep across the United States, as millions will view a total solar eclipse.…
Read the Story
Quick Facts
After the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, the next total solar eclipse that can be seen from the contiguous United States will be on Aug. 23, 2044.
We can’t normally see the corona – the Sun’s outer atmosphere – because the Sun’s surface below it is so much brighter. But during a total solar eclipse, the corona becomes visible, offering unique opportunities to study it.
When the Moon completely blocks the visible surface of the Sun during a total solar eclipse, viewers can remove their eclipse glasses. A total solar eclipse is the only type of solar eclipse where eclipse glasses can be momentarily removed.
When a solar eclipse reaches totality, nocturnal wildlife sometimes wakes up, thinking that it’s nighttime, and non-nocturnal wildlife might think it’s time to head to sleep!
