America gets ready for the total solar eclipse

Our live coverage of the eclipse has moved here.

When the total solar eclipse traces a path across Mexico, the United States and Canada later today, spectators can anticipate a multitude of awe-inspiring moments.

It’s worth taking some time to stop and take in this historic celestial event because a total solar eclipse won’t be visible across the contiguous US again until August 2044 and an annular eclipse — which happens when the moon can’t completely block the sun— won’t appear across this part of the world again until 2046.

Here’s what else you should watch for:

Here’s where tomorrow’s eclipse will be most visible across the US:

If you miss Monday’s eclipse, you’ll be waiting for a while for your next chance to see one on US soil. The next total solar eclipse won’t be visible across the contiguous United States again until August 2044.

Parts of Europe, including areas of Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia, and a small area of Portugal, will see the world’s next total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026, according to NASA.

And there will be annular solar eclipses — which are like total solar eclipses, except the moon is at the farthest point in its orbit from Earth, so it can’t completely block the sun — even sooner.

An annular solar eclipse will be visible in South America later this year on October 2. There will be another one in February 2026 for parts of Antarctica.

NASA’s Eclipse Soundscapes Project will collect observations from the public on animal behaviors as well as human reactions to the eclipse through written multisensory reports — such as what the observer saw, heard or felt — and audio recordings of the environment during the solar event.

Total solar eclipses are infrequent events that provide scientists with rare opportunities to collect data on behavioral responses to the phenomenon, said Kelsey Perrett, communications coordinator for the Eclipse Soundscapes Project.

Nearly, 2,500 people have already signed up for the NASA project, she added. “When it comes to data, it’s the more the merrier. The more people who participate, the better we can answer our questions about how solar eclipses impact life on Earth.”

Who can participate: The NASA project is open to all volunteer participants, including those who are blind or have low vision, according to the news release. What’s more, it’s not necessary to have an animal within eyesight to take good observations, as listening is also an important sense to use during the eclipse, said Dr. Bryan Pijanowski, professor of forestry and natural resources and the director for the Center for Global Soundscapes at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana

There is now a Level 3 of 5 risk for severe weather on Monday just outside of Dallas, Texas, where thousands of people will be gathered for the solar eclipse.

The severe weather is expected to move into the region after the eclipse reaches totality in the area, but could be hazardous to those traveling through. 

“There may only be a short window (1-2 hrs) between the eclipse and strong to severe storms,” according to the National Weather Service in Dallas.

The main threat associated with this system is large to very large hail, with the possibility of damaging winds and isolated tornadoes, the Storm Prediction Center said.

See CNN’s full breakdown of eclipse weather news for the latest.

NASA advises that there is always some uncertainty involved in mapping the eclipse’s path.

New map calculations have raised some concerns that the path of totality — where it’s possible to see the moon completely block out the sun — is slightly narrower than NASA calculated. That means some cities on the edge of the route that were expecting to experience a second or two of total darkness might be left out.

But NASA spokesperson Karen Fox notes the difference would only affect cities on the very edge of the path, where predictions are difficult regardless. That’s why the space agency and other experts always recommend spectators head for the middle of the path.

Everyone’s favorite science educator Bill Nye sat down to chat with CNN about tomorrow’s total eclipse, sharing some words of encouragement for people who may be watching in cloudy conditions, and challenging people — especially young eclipse viewers — to “be in the moment” on Monday.

Watch the interview below:

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It’s midday, and the sun is high in the sky, a natural cyan canvas peppered with puffy, cauliflower-shaped clouds. With little warning, the clouds cluttering the horizon start to vanish before your eyes. Not long after, the world begins to darken, as the sun disappears from view.

For the entirety of the eclipse, the clouds will stay away.

That’s at least what scientists expect to take place in swaths of Mexico, Canada and the United States during April 8’s total solar eclipse. If weather permits, those living in the 49 US states where a partial eclipse is expected could also spot some clouds vanishing.

Here’s why that is: During an eclipse, shallow cumulus clouds start dissipating in large proportions when only a fraction of the sun is covered, and they don’t reform until the end of the event, according to a study published February 12 in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment. The research team found that cumulus clouds dissipate during eclipses because of the relationship between solar radiation and the formation processes of the clouds.

During an eclipse, the surface cools rapidly from the moon’s shadow blocking the sunlight, preventing warm air from rising from Earth’s surface — a core ingredient in the formation of cumulus clouds, according to Victor Trees, a doctoral candidate in the Netherlands who led the study. That rising air process leading to the production of clouds usually takes roughly 15 to 20 minutes, according to simulations.

But this doesn’t mean your vantage point of the forthcoming eclipse is guaranteed to be cloud-free as the research doesn’t apply to all clouds — only the shallow cumulus kind found hovering over land.

If you don’t have certified glasses or viewers on hand for tomorrow’s big eclipse, you can still view it indirectly by using a pinhole projector, such as a hole punched through an index card.

These work when you stand with your back to the sun and hold up the card. The pinhole projects an image of the crescent or ring-shaped sun on the ground or other surfaces.

Just remember: Never face the sun and look directly at it through the pinhole.

Other pinhole projectors you may already have on hand, include colanders, straw hats or anything with small holes in it. Or you can simply hold up your hands, space out your fingers and cross them over each other to create a waffle pattern. The small space between will reflect the sun’s crescent during a partial eclipse or a ring during the annular eclipse.

Standing by a leafy tree? The small spaces between leaves will dapple patterns of the eclipse phase on the ground.

As long as the eclipse glasses or solar viewers you’re using comply with the ISO 12312-2 safety standard and aren’t torn, scratched or damaged in any way, they don’t “expire” and can be used indefinitely.

There is also no limit on how long you can view the sun while wearing them.

To take care of them, save your eclipse glasses and viewers for future eclipses by storing them at room temperature in an envelope or their original packaging to avoid scratches.
Never use water, glass cleaner, baby wipes or other wet wipes to clean eclipse glasses — the moisture could cause the cardboard frames to detach from the lenses. Instead, carefully wipe the lenses clean with a tissue or cloth.

Note: Some glasses and viewers carry outdated warnings about using the glasses for more than three minutes at a time or recommend throwing them away after more than three years, but these do not apply to ISO 12312-2-certified viewers, according to the American Astronomical Society.

Weather permitting, today’s total solar eclipse will be an incredible opportunity for photographers of any skill level. Stan Honda — an experienced astrophotographer who has captured three total solar eclipses — has some tips on how to make the moment last through images.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul anticipates there will be “incredible visibility” for the total solar eclipse.

“Finally, the countdown has begun to the first total solar eclipse over New York in over 99 years, and it’s just 24 hours away,” Hochul said in remarks Sunday from the Niagara Falls State Park Education Center.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the majesty of God’s creation,” she said. 

The eclipse will be visible from some of the state’s “most beautiful backdrops” such as the Adirondack Mountains, Lake Erie and Niagara Falls, which have been selected by NASA to launch their eclipse headquarters, according to Hochul. 

The governor is said she’s “over the moon” as she expects more than one million people to travel to New York to see the eclipse, but warned about high volume of traffic.

“We are so excited to welcome people from all across the country and indeed the world to witness the wonders of our universe in hand,” Hochul said. 

People across the United States will be looking to the sky on Monday to witness a total solar eclipse. Others will be listening to it.

And to Harvard astronomers working to transform the rare sight into sound, the eclipse should create a symphony. It’s an effort to make the eclipse more accessible to people with blindness and low vision.

“We mapped the bright light of the sun to a flute sound,” said Allyson Bieryla, an astronomer at Harvard University. “Then it goes to a mid-range which is a clarinet, and then during totality it kind of goes down to a low clicking sound and that clicking even slows down during totality.”

The device is called a LightSound, and hundreds of them will be at eclipse-viewing events on Monday. Bieryla, who runs the LightSound Project, said they distributed about 900 devices across Mexico, the United States and Canada for Monday’s total solar eclipse.

Of those hundreds scattered across the United States, 29 devices were sent to Ohio state parks and wildlife areas in the path of totality. Bernadetta King, the program manager at the Ohioans with Disabilities’ Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired, said people are excited to be fully included at eclipse events as event organizers will plug the device into speakers.

“Sometimes when you make something better for people with disabilities, you inadvertently make it better for everybody, so why don’t we just think that way to begin with?” King said. “Even the people that would be viewing the eclipse through glasses are hearing about this and say, ‘Oh, this is cool.’”

Read more about “listening” to an eclipse.

The road to the eclipse is paved with warning signs:

“ECLIPSE PLAN AHEAD.” “ECLIPSE EXPECT DELAYS.” “ECLIPSE DO NOT STOP ON ROADWAY.” “ECLIPSE MONDAY TRAFFIC.”

These were the signs that my family and I encountered in western Pennsylvania. The signs were frequent, appearing every few miles. I joked to my husband that I half-expected to see one that said, “ECLIPSE. TURN BACK.”

I woke my young children early yesterday and we all hit the road at 6:01 a.m. ET, driving from the suburbs of New York to my hometown of Amherst, Ohio, which is in the path of totality — the areas where the moon will appear to entirely block the sun.

We planned this trip seven years ago, when we were at the last eclipse. It was a fun, curious and joyous moment that we hope to replicate tomorrow. At the time, we were thrilled to learn that my childhood home would be in the path of totality in 2024.

That made this trip easy. No restaurants to worry about. No hotels to book (a relief, considering short-term rentals like Airbnb and Vrbo are all booked up). Just a normal visit to see my parents, with an eclipse thrown in.

Now, we are looking up and hoping for clear skies.

If the weather doesn’t cooperate, I suppose we can console ourselves with eclipse bread from Kiedrowski’s Bakery, eclipse chocolate from Suzin L Chocolatier and eclipse ice cream from Mitchell’s Homemade.

Are you watching the eclipse from the path of totality? Did you travel far and gather with family and friends to witness the event? Or is your hometown in the path of what for many is a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle?

Everyone has their own eclipse story to tell, and we want to hear yours! Send images* and a few details about your eclipse experience to sciencenewsletter@cnn.com, and it could end up in CNN’s ongoing Eclipse Across America coverage. Please share your full name and pronouns for credit and caption info.

*Any materials sent are subject to the following terms. I agree that CNN can use my photos/video (“Material”) on all CNN media, worldwide in perpetuity along with affiliate distribution. I also confirm that I am the exclusive owner and rights holder of the Material, did not create the Material using AI, and have all the necessary rights to authorize use of this Material at this URL.

The only time it’s safe to view the sun without eye protection is during the totality of a total solar eclipse, or the brief period when the moon completely blocks the light of the sun, according to NASA.

Otherwise, experts say it’s absolutely necessary to wear certified eclipse glasses or use handheld solar viewers that meet a specific safety standard when watching all other phases of a total or partial solar eclipse.

Looking at the sun without proper protection can result in solar retinopathy, or retinal damage from exposure to solar radiation. While the highly specialized cells inside our eyes don’t feel any pain, the rods and cones and photochemical reactors become inflamed and damaged when looking at the sun, said Ronald Benner, an optometrist and president of the American Optometric Association.

It’s a bit like the effect that occurs when we see a camera flash go off, which can distort our vision for a few minutes before it goes away. But the intensity of solar retinopathy causes permanent damage that won’t be immediately apparent.

Overnight, the cells can die, and they won’t be replaced. There is no treatment for solar retinopathy. It can improve or worsen, but it is a permanent condition. The changes in a person’s vision depend on the type of damage that is done, and these can occur in one or both eyes.

New map calculations have raised some concerns that the path of totality — where it’s possible to see the moon completely block out the sun — is slightly narrower than NASA calculated.

That means some cities on the edge of the route that were expecting to experience a second or two of total darkness might be left out.

NASA hasn’t changed its predictions, but the space agency advises that there is some uncertainty involved in mapping the eclipse’s path.

“Calculations that use a slightly larger radius for the size of the Sun yield an eclipse path that is slightly narrower,” said NASA spokesperson Karen Fox in an emailed statement. “This difference would only affect cities on the very edge of the path of totality, where blanket predictions are difficult regardless — a few city blocks one way or the other could mean 20, 10, or 0 seconds of totality.”

For viewing purposes, NASA scientists and other experts recommend that spectators head for the middle, rather than the perimeter, of the path anyway.

“I would never, never be near the edge of where that totality is because it’s a difference between night and day,” said Dr. Edward Guinan, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Villanova University.

CNN Business writer Chris Isidore has been hoping to see an eclipse for the past 52 years, starting with an 1,800-mile round trip to northern Quebec when he was 11 years old. But that eclipse was clouded out at the last moment.

His most recent eclipse hunt was a trip to the Midwest that included more than 500 miles of driving, ending with him and his family members huddled underneath a canopy in the rain. He got to see the land around him turn dark as night both times. But little else.

So this year when he made plans to see the eclipse, he decided to build his plans around two words: mobility and flexibility. When someone asked recently where he was going to see the eclipse, he responded, “Somewhere along a 1,400-mile stretch of the path of totality.”

That range of options stretches from Pocahontas, Arkansas, in the northern part of that state, to Hartland, New Brunswick, in Canada, just over the border from Maine.

But just a day before the big event, he’s still not entirely sure what his plans will entail — and whether they will be enough.

In some cultures and faith traditions, an eclipse is less spectacle and more spiritual. Here’s how some religions and cultures observe the celestial event:

Some Hindus see it as a bad omen: In Vedic astrology, an eclipse occurs when the shadow planet Rahu swallows the sun.

Some Hindus fast before and bathe after the celestial event to clear themselves of negative energies. Certain temples, meanwhile, close down during the eclipse and offer special prayers.

Muslims consider eclipses a sign from God: Per Islamic tradition, the Prophet Muhammad’s young son Ibrahim died on the day of a solar eclipse.

Many of his followers at the time associated the celestial phenomenon with death and sorrow, says Akif Aydin, president of the interfaith organization Atlantic Institute SC. But the Prophet was quick to dispute such notions, declaring that an eclipse was merely a sign from God — not a harbinger of life or death.

“It is a time to connect with God again — to remember God’s creation again,” Aydin said.

For Navajos, it’s a time of reverence: Eclipses are a more solemn occasion in Navajo tradition, according to Evelyn Bahe, a program manager in the Department of Diné Education in Window Rock, Arizona.

The Diné, the term Navajos use to refer to themselves, see the celestial event as a time to show reverence for the sun and Earth.

“During the eclipse, we have to get back into our dwelling, close the curtains and make it really quiet,” Bahe says. “During this time, we cannot eat. We cannot sleep. We cannot drink water.”

Excited eclipse watchers, watch out: Weather could complicate attempts to see the epic astronomical phenomenon in parts of the Southwest.

Clouds and storms could hinder the ability to see the eclipse in its full glory in several spots along the path of totality — where the moon will completely block out the sun.

The most ideal weather for the eclipse will likely occur in two general areas: from Vermont through Maine, as well as Missouri through southern Indiana. Only a few isolated clouds are expected for these areas, which should not prevent optimal eclipse viewing.

So get your eclipse glasses ready for places like Evansville, Ind.; Carbondale, Ill.; Burlington, Vt.; and Caribou, Maine.

Some of the locations with less-than-ideal weather include portions of the eastern Great Lakes and much of Texas.

Cleveland, Ohio, and Erie, Penn., have a chance of rain mainly in the morning, but scattered cloud cover may be slow to exit the area even after the rain ends.

Farther east in Buffalo and Rochester, New York, cloud cover is expected to be between mostly cloudy and overcast — which will limit the viewing of the eclipse pretty significantly.

Then there are the southern cities, which not only have clouds to worry about, but also severe storms: There is a Level 2 of 5 risk for severe weather on Monday, potentially impacting much of Texas as well as parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

The risk for severe weather overlaps with portions of the path of totality, including over Dallas.

The National Weather Service in Dallas is forecasting mostly cloudy skies during the eclipse, with scattered storms starting in the early evening. The severe weather is expected to move into the region after the eclipse, but could be hazardous to those traveling through the area.

Keep up with the eclipse forecast here.

Eclipses have long inspired terror and awe as ancient cultures sought ways to explain the celestial phenomenon.

“I find the mythology and folklore of eclipses fascinating,” said Mark Littman, a journalism professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and coauthor of “Totality: The Great North American Eclipse of 2024.”

“To see how people long ago and people today reacted to a total eclipse of the Sun, a sight so unexpected, so dramatic, so surprising in appearance, and so unnatural even though it is utterly natural.”

Ancient records of eclipses date back to 772 BC, when the Chinese marked them on animal bones, and 750 BC, when Babylonians recorded eclipses in their cuneiform writing on clay tablets, Littmann said. Both cultures “realized there was a rhythm to eclipses,” which meant they could be calculated and predicted in the future.

Despite the ability to predict eclipses, the cause of the eclipse remained unknown, so myths and folklore filled the knowledge gap.

“The mythology of eclipses most often involves a beast that tries to eat the sun for lunch. For the Chinese, that beast was a dragon or a dog. For Scandinavians, it was a wolf,” Littmann said.

Those in northern South America thought the sun and moon fought one another, trying to shut off each other’s light, he said.

Transylvanian folklore suggested that the sun looked down on Earth, saw the corruption of humans, and turned away in disgust.

And the Fon people of western Africa thought the male sun ruled the day, while the female moon ruled the night.

“They love each other, but they are so busy traversing the sky and providing light that they seldom get together,” Littmann said. “Yet when they do, they modestly turn off the light.”

If you plan to be one of the millions of Americans gazing up at the sky during the total solar eclipse on April 8, don’t forget to protect your eyes.

If you can’t get your hands on a pair of eclipse glasses, don’t worry: You can make your own eclipse viewer with a few items you already have in your house.

Watch the step-by-step guide here:

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During the Great American Eclipse of 2017, zoo animals acting strangely took researchers by surprise — the giraffes gathered and broke into a gallop, the Galápagos tortoises began to mate, and the gorillas started to get ready for bed.

These odd behaviors were just a few of several anomalies that scientists stationed at the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina, observed during the historic solar event spanning the United States, according to a March 2020 report.

Reports of animals acting strangely during a solar eclipse date back hundreds of years, according to NASA, but the causes and effects of the unusual behaviors are not fully understood. The most consolidated study is from nearly 100 years ago, when a team of scientists led by entomologist William M. Wheeler collected almost 500 observations from the public.

Here’s some behaviors documented over the years:

Millions of people across Mexico, the United States and Canada will be able to see a solar eclipse on Monday — not to be confused with a lunar eclipse.

The difference is all about how the sun, the moon and Earth line up.

A solar eclipse happens when the moon is directly in front of the sun. In a total solar eclipse, like the one we’ll see tomorrow, the moon completely blocks out the sun, causing everything to go dark for a few minutes. 

In addition to total solar eclipses, there are three other types:

A lunar eclipse is the other way around: the Earth blocks the sun’s light from hitting the moon. This sometimes makes the moon look red because Earth’s atmosphere absorbs the other colors, according to NASA.

Eclipses are rare events because the moon does not orbit on the same plane as the Earth and the sun, NASA says, it is tilted at about 5 degrees. It’s the reason why there isn’t a lunar eclipse every month — sometimes even when the moon is behind Earth, it can still get hit with some sunlight.

Americans are a little spoiled when it comes to eclipses. After all, we’re about to experience one that the majority of the country will see, and it comes on the heels of the “Great American Eclipse” that tracked from Oregon to South Carolina in 2017.

But that doesn’t often happen. And it won’t again until the 2040s.

On average, an eclipse occurs in the same place every 375 years, said Dr. John Mulchaey, Carnegie Institution for Science’s deputy for science and the director and Crawford H. Greenewalt Chair of the Carnegie Observatories.

And we’re living at the right time to truly enjoy the sight of a total eclipse on Earth, he said.

While eclipses occur throughout the solar system, none are exactly like the ones experienced in our world.

The moon is about 400 times smaller than the sun, but the moon is also about 400 times closer to Earth than the sun is, creating a “beautiful coincidence” that results in eclipses when the three celestial bodies align, Mulchaey said.

This alignment is called syzygy, or when three objects line up in space.

In the distant past, the moon was much closer to Earth, which means totality likely didn’t appear as it does now. And within another 60 million years or so, the moon will be so far away that it will never cover the sun, making this a rare moment in time, Mulchaey said.

Almost seven years since a total solar eclipse arced over the US, it’s time to grab your eclipse glasses and enjoy watching one of the best celestial shows in the sky.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, completely blocking the sun’s face.

Those within the path of totality, or locations where the moon will completely cover the sun, will see a total solar eclipse. People outside the path of totality will still be able to see a partial solar eclipse, where the moon only blocks part of the sun’s face.

During a total solar eclipse, the sky will darken as it would at dawn or dusk. Here’s the stage-by-stage guide on what to expect:

Experts have been reminding spectators to grab a pair of eclipse glasses to view the total solar eclipse — and to make sure they aren’t fake. Counterfeit eclipse glasses are “polluting the marketplace,” according to a release shared by the American Astronomical Society, or AAS.

The lenses of solar eclipse glasses are made of black polymer, or resin infused with carbon particles, that blocks nearly all visible, infrared and ultraviolet light, according to The Planetary Society. And sunglasses won’t work in place of eclipse glasses or solar viewers, according to a release by the American Optometric Association.

Looking at the sun without properly made eclipse glasses can result in severe eye injury, from temporary vision impairment to permanent blindness. But the AAS has discovered the production of fraudulent eclipse glasses that won’t provide the necessary protection needed to view the sun safely without incurring eye damage.

Here’s how to tell if your solar eclipse glasses are safe to wear: The counterfeit glasses might be hard to spot because they include information and even original artwork that suggest they were made by a known reputable manufacturer of the products, but different factories that have yet to be identified actually made them, according to the AAS. “APO is one of the major U.S. manufacturers of safe solar viewers and prints its name and address on its eclipse glasses, whereas the Chinese copycat products have APO’s name but not its address,” the AAS shared in a news release. But close tracking by the AAS revealed that more unidentified factories are producing counterfeit glasses printed with the name and address of a Chinese factory called Cangnan County Qiwei Craft Co., which creates safe products. Some of the fake glasses also include the name or logo of Solar Eclipse International, Canada, which is Qiwei’s North American distributor.