Total solar eclipse 2024

Passengers on special path-of-totality flights offered by commercial airlines are banking on seeing the total solar eclipse from above the clouds that have blanketed parts of the heartland.

CNN correspondent Pete Muntean is boarding Delta Air Lines flight 1010 at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. Bound for Detroit, the flight plan includes special "turns in totality" for passengers to view the eclipse’s so-called "diamond ring" out of the Airbus A320’s 14-inch windows.

Delta says flight 1010 is nearly sold out. Monday morning, seats available for the flight were listed at $950. Only aisle and middle seats in the main cabin were available.

Announced on February 26, Delta 1010 is the airline’s second path-of-totality flight after its first such flight, Delta 1218 from Austin, sold out in less than 24 hours. Both flights are planned to arrive in Detroit simultaneously followed by a party at the gate. United and Southwest Airlines are offering similar flights.

If your location only affords a view of the partial solar eclipse, some of the sun’s powerful light will always be visible. And any glimpse of the sun’s brightness with the naked eye is not only uncomfortable, it’s dangerous. Directly staring at the sun can result in blindness or disrupted vision.

Here's how to view the eclipse:

What won't work:

The Earth rotates on its axis eastward. That means the moon and sun (plus all of the stars) look like they are moving from east to west when you are standing on Earth, according to NASA.

Here's how NASA further explained it:

Heidi Hammel, the vice president for science at the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, said there have been two deeply emotional experiences in her career:

Watching total solar eclipses — and the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, a project she worked on for 25 years that finally took to the skies in December 2021.

She seen three eclipses, most recently in 2017 from Sun Valley, Idaho, she said.

Hammel understands all the orbital mechanisms that lead up to such events. But she was struck by how "weird" it can be.

She added that, in those moments, she understood "why primitive people who didn't know what was happening would be terrified by this."

Hammel added that eclipses are exciting times for planetary science, as studying the sun's corona — or the hot outermost part of the sun's atmosphere — can help us understand more about the star at the center of our own solar system.

And the more we know about home, the more knowledge we can carry into the study of far-out galaxies, like those perused by the Webb telescope.

On a normal day, as they say, Cleveland rocks.

With the eclipse, the NCAA women's final four, the Cleveland International Film Festival and the Guardians home opener all converging in one weekend, Cleveland is rocking an economic high. 

Nick Urig with Destination Cleveland says Cleveland's Cuyahoga County will see 200,000 visitors for the eclipse alone. Because several major events are happening in Cleveland at the same time discerning the economic effect of each one is difficult. By one account, "hotel rates in the county are two to four times higher than this time last April" says Urig. 

For the eclipse, there are multiple large events across Cleveland. The Great Lakes Science Center and NASA's Glenn Visitor Center (NASA's Glenn Research Center is the only NASA facility in the path of totality) is the largest event expecting some 30,000 eclipse watchers. 

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is holding a solar fest, essentially DJ'ing the eclipse itself with a curated playlist. Rock Hall, as it's known locally, will set up speakers throughout Cleveland playing every sun- and moon-related song possible, including with Pink Floyd's song "Eclipse" for totality itself. 

There are so many events converging on Cleveland over just a few days, groups like Destination Cleveland are undertaking studies to try and define how much the city has benefited and which major event eclipsed all others. 

The Port of Mazatlán in Sinaloa, Mexico, is described by NASA as the best place in the world to observe the total solar eclipse that will cross much of North America.

Preparations for the astronomical event have been vast. The government of Sinaloa delivered about 250,000 certified glasses over the past few days for observing the eclipse. Areas have been adapted where visitors will be able to appreciate the eclipse with their telescopes.

A concert with a symphony orchestra will be held in the Ciudades Hermanas Park. A report from the Sinaloa government indicated that at least 120,000 visitors are expected to be this Monday for the event. The totality of the eclipse can also be seen from the states of Durango and Coahuila.

According to experts, the west coast of Mexico will be one of the best places to observe the eclipse, especially the states of Coahuila, Durango and Sinaloa, where the moon will completely block the sun.

The last total eclipse observed from Mexico was in 1991 and the next one will be in 28 years.

Ahead of the arrival of the eclipse to United States, President Joe Biden urged Americans to wear the appropriate protective eyewear to witness the marvel in the sky.

Biden is traveling today to Madison, Wisconsin, to deliver remarks on "lowering costs for Americans." Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris plans to view the solar eclipse with students in Philadelphia.

If you don’t have certified glasses or viewers on hand, eclipses can also be viewed indirectly 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.

Spectators have begun to gather across Canada, Mexico and the United States to experience the eclipse. See what people are doing to prepare.