MACON, Ga. — 2017's eclipse was one for the record books. It was the first of its kind in the smartphone and social media era.
The path of totality spanned from Oregon on the Pacific coast to South Carolina on the Atlantic coast, passing through parts of northeast Georgia.
Here in central Georgia, we were on the fringe.
The magnitude was 0.96, and we'll see something similar on April 8, 2024. This year's path of totality spans from Texas to New England, leaving central Georgia on the edge once again.
The narrow 115-mile-wide strip of the totality across the United States is the difference between night and day. In that path, the moon will cover 100% of the sun, casting a shadow on Earth's surface.
To see the eclipse in totality, your magnitude has to be above 1.0. Even 0.999 isn’t going to cut it.
In central Georgia this go-round, our magnitude will be at 0.81, meaning it's a partial solar eclipse for us. But what we'll see will be very similar to what we saw in 2017.
And to see the eclipse here, you're going to need those solar eclipse glasses once again. If you want to see the eclipse in totality, you'll have to hit the road.
Even in the path, totality will only last a few minutes. Not to mention, you’ll have to take a gamble on the weather planning a trip. Based on cloud climatology, you may have better luck heading west to Texas, rather than north to New York.
The April eclipse will be the last visible eclipse in the United States until 2044.