What to know before the much-anticipated solar eclipse
AccuWeather astronomy expert Brian Lada shares some common questions asked about the total solar eclipse, and he goes over the most important things to know when preparing to watch the big event.
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00:00 It's the final countdown, one month, even less,
00:03 into the astronomical event of the decade.
00:05 Between now and then, we want to make sure
00:07 that you are prepared, no matter where you're viewing from.
00:09 So joining us to answer some of your questions about the eclipse
00:12 is AccuOther astronomy expert, Brian Lader.
00:14 Brian, I love when we have you on the show.
00:16 You have such a great perspective on this stuff.
00:18 So let's dig in, my friends.
00:20 Let's go to this.
00:21 Where do you need to be to see this total solar eclipse?
00:25 Well, April 8 is going to be here before you know it.
00:27 And everyone in North America should
00:29 be able to see at least the partial solar eclipse.
00:31 But to see the main event, the moon completely
00:33 block out the sun, you need to be
00:35 in the area called the path of totality, which
00:37 goes in the United States from Texas to Maine.
00:40 Now, it's not every state in there, just portions
00:42 of some of the states.
00:43 So make sure if you want to see it,
00:45 that you're in the right place so you don't miss out.
00:47 So important, right place, right time.
00:49 Now, what happens if you look at the sun without eclipse
00:52 glasses?
00:52 That sounds like a bad idea.
00:54 You shouldn't look at the sun anyway.
00:55 And I imagine this is no different?
00:57 Yeah, eclipse glasses, they're going
00:59 to be harder to find as we get close just because of supply
01:01 and demand.
01:02 But you do not want to look at the sun without these glasses
01:04 because you can get serious, sometimes permanent, eye
01:07 damage.
01:08 After the 2017 Great American Eclipse,
01:11 one of the top searches on the internet was,
01:13 why do my eyes hurt?
01:14 And that's because people looked at the sun
01:16 without the right eclipse glasses
01:18 or without eclipse glasses at all.
01:19 So you can get just eye soreness.
01:21 You can get blurry vision, changes to colors.
01:23 In extreme cases, even blindness.
01:26 So you definitely want to practice safe eye safety.
01:29 Hey, Brian, I have to ask, by the way,
01:30 you mentioned the 2017 eclipse.
01:32 If people still have glasses from back then,
01:34 do those still work?
01:35 Yeah, if you still have a pair or two laying around,
01:37 as long as they're not scuffed or scratched,
01:39 they should still be good to use from 2017.
01:41 Oh, super helpful there.
01:42 OK, so when's the next total solar eclipse in the United
01:46 States in case people can't get out to the path of totality
01:49 to see this one?
01:50 Yeah, this is one reason why we're
01:52 hyping up the 2024 eclipse.
01:53 Because if you don't want to travel internationally,
01:56 which can be expensive and logistically complicated,
01:59 the next total solar eclipse in the lower 48 states of the US
02:03 is 20 years away, 2024, followed by another one, though,
02:06 in 2045.
02:07 So we have back-to-back eclipses.
02:09 So that's the good news.
02:10 But that's still a long time between this one.