Next solar eclipse....?

Question

Does anyone know when the next solar eclipse is going to hit eastern pennsylvania?

Answer 1

Hi Lynn!

The next solar eclipse you'll see in PA will be August 21, 2017, the one that will be total in the South. All of Pennsylvania will see a partial eclipse with about 80% of the solar disc covered early that afternoon. (Or you could drive to Kentucky, Tennessee or the Carolinas and see the total eclipse there.)

(Actually, what I wrote is not technically correct. There will be no fewer than 3 partial solar eclipses before that time: May 20, 2012, November 3, 2013 and October 23, 2014. However, all three will either start or end just about at sunset or sunrise (respectively) so that, if you had the right instruments and a perfectly unobstructed view of the sun at sea level, you might notice the tiniest bite out of the sun for a few seconds. No one else will be watching these three, though, at least not in PA.)

The next total eclipse visible in eastern Pennsylvania will be the sunrise eclipse of May 1, 2079. A narrow strip of the state along the New York and New Jersey lines will see the sun rise totally eclipsed that morning, with totality ending a minute later. You'd better climb to the top of a mountain in the Poconos to see that one! If you blink, you'l miss it, and if you do miss out, the next after that in eastern Pennsylvania will not be until 2144.

(I note that one writer mentioned the eclipse April 8, 2024, but this will not be total in eastern PA. The only corner of the state to see totality that day will be Erie and small area around it in the far northwest.)

By the way, don't forget the total eclipse of the moon this year, in the early morning of Tuesday August 28th.

Answer 2

I hope you realize that 99% of the time you have to travel to see a solar eclipse, sometimes great distances. Each eclipse is visible only along a narrow path across the Earth's surface. The path on August 1 starts in the Canadian high Arctic, crosses the Arctic Ocean to northern Siberia, then on to Tibet and ends in central China. You have to be exactly on this path to see the total phase. There are many expeditions going to observe the eclipse at various points along its path, but these are pretty much full at present. Observing a solar eclipse takes a lot of effort and planning, and usually also money, on the part of the participants.

Answer 3

April 8, 2024

It will be visible on a line from Texas to Maine.