The Great American Eclipse of 2024!
One month away, and full of health implications, mythology, and history.
Some people fear missing out on the Taylor Swift Eras tour. They will traverse the country, the planet, and sometimes the universe to make a show. Kids are taken out of school. I saw the movie and that was good enough for me. Favorite song? Anti-Hero. But what I actually fear missing is The Great American Eclipse of 2024. I’m prepared to travel for that. I’m prepared to be standing in Buffalo, NY at 3:00 PM on Monday April 8th, 2024 with a pair of cheap solar shades watching a rare total solar eclipse.
I’m going to share some eclipse considerations related to health, because health is my expertise. I’ll add some mythology and science, but refrain from singing Anti-Hero, because when I sing people suddenly look troubled, and ask me to stop. Like I’m a monster on the hill.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, casting a shadow on our planet. There are total, partial and annular eclipses, with total eclipses being the coolest. The moon is 400 times smaller than the sun, and is also 400 times nearer to Earth than the sun. That’s why the moon and sun appear to be the same size. An amazing cosmic coincidence. When the moon passes exactly in front of the sun from Earth’s perspective, it blocks out the sun completely. The sky turns to dusk, and the sun’s corona - the outer atmosphere that’s usually obscured by the star’s glare - becomes visible.
You might recall the 2017 solar eclipse. It was one of the most watched events in American history. Here in Philly we were not in the path of totality, but it was still amazing. 88 % of American adults (~ 216 million people) watched that “Great American Eclipse” in person or on a screen. The highest rated Super Bowl in 2015 drew 114 million by comparison.
Here is what the U.S. can expect to see:
Health Effects related to eclipses
A sense of awe. It’s something we need to keep cultivating and seeking out, for our mental, physical, and social health. Here is a great quote about awe:
As scientists are currently learning, an experience of awe makes a person more generous while also regulating cytokines for a more balanced immune response. Cultivating awe means creating opportunities for people to shift from the short-lived pleasure of an online hit (dopamine) to the longer-term social openness of true connection (oxytocin). Awe means experiencing oneself as part of something greater.
And for those couple minutes standing in shadow, perhaps all we will care about is the sun, the moon, and the beautiful, colorful, alive Eden we still have here on Earth.
Community and a great flattening of opportunity. People of all walks of life can look up and be amazed. If we can’t get to the path of totality, many of us can still see a partial eclipse. We can watch any number of video streams to get a sense. Trump, Biden, Putin, Swift - none of them can do anything to alter celestial movements. Bezos and Musk can try to get a better view by rocketing themselves into orbit above us, potentially ruining the moment, but they still would not experience the light to dark to light sorcery here on Earth. That’s the real show, and no VIP boxes are needed to see the players.
Eclipses stoke scientific curiosity, which is so important. Only 6 in 10 Americans know that the Earth orbits the sun and takes a year to do so. Before the eclipse in 2017, internet searches, conversations, and articles shifted away from political black holes and TikTok zombie scrolling for a while, and people got excited about science. I liked this quote from The Washington Post:
Americans will track political debates and medical breakthroughs because they believe those events might affect their daily lives. But far fewer people see the inner workings of a bacterial cell or the movements of celestial bodies as essential to their understanding of their world.
There is the potential for a measurable improvement in mental health. Some limited research has hinted at fascinating behavioral changes associated with eclipses. Decreased suicide rates in the months before a total solar eclipse have been observed in one Austrian study, with that anticipation of the event being potentially protective against suicide similarly detected in a study out of Romania.
A state psychiatric hospital in Buffalo, NY found a precipitous drop in restraint and seclusion orders in the month before the 2017 eclipse. The authors also speculated that anticipation was beneficial, and that a collective experience between staff and inpatients might flatten some of the power imbalances and hierarchies, and even lead to better behavior in hopes of being granted privileges to see the event firsthand.
Other studies, like this one also from Buffalo, NY, found insignificant mental health effects resulting from solar and lunar behaviors.
But a review published in Psychological Science of studies performed during the 2017 eclipse found:
In two studies featuring ecologically valid observational Twitter data from over 2 million people, we found that the 2017 solar eclipse was associated with increases in awe and social processes that are core to collective life. Relative to individuals not in the eclipse’s path of totality, people in the path were more likely to express awe and, subsequently, less self-focus and greater prosociality, affiliation, collective focus, and humility in their tweets about the eclipse (Study 1). Moreover, among people in the path, individuals who expressed more awe over time were more likely to use affiliative, prosocial, humble, and collectively focused language relative to their preeclipse levels and to individuals who exhibited lower awe over time (Study 2). These findings indicate that awe-inspiring astronomical events such as a total solar eclipse can arouse tendencies—from greater attention to one’s groups to motivations to care for and affiliate with others—vital to collective life.
And now for some potential risks.
Solar retinopathy. Don’t look directly at the evolving eclipse without protection. Radiation streaming through pupils aimed at the sun can damage our eyesight permanently, just like on any other day. Regular sunglasses are not sufficient to watch an eclipse, as they block out perhaps 60% of the light. Legit glasses for eclipses and looking at the sun must block out 99.9% of light/UV radiation. I have some cheap ones I purchased on Amazon from a company called Soluna. I made sure the manufacturer was legit, and you should too. Counterfeits abound. Here is a list of vetted companies and products from the American Astronomical Society. An article in JAMA reviews how to safely view solar eclipses.
During the last total solar eclipse on August 21st, 2017, many hospital systems thought there could be a deluge of patients flooding emergency rooms after staring at the sun and blinding themselves. They also worried about millions of people flooding the zone of totality and having unrelated health problems locally. A bunch of hospitals canceled elective surgeries and increased emergency care, trauma, and on call surgery staff by 40% for the day. But there was no large-scale event catastrophe, and legions of people did not stare directly into the eclipsing sun.
I’m going to sneak a quick look at the total eclipse with naked eyes, but only during the brief couple minutes of totality. According to NASA:
You can view the eclipse directly without proper eye protection only when the Moon completely obscures the Sun’s bright face – during the brief and spectacular period known as totality. (You’ll know it’s safe when you can no longer see any part of the Sun through eclipse glasses or a solar viewer.)
As soon as you see even a little bit of the bright Sun reappear after totality, immediately put your eclipse glasses back on or use a handheld solar viewer to look at the Sun.
A brief chill, with clearing skies. The world cast in shadow will feel colder as the Sun is progressively blocked. Scientists have found that this cooling disrupts cloud formation. Warm air currents are interrupted, and within 20 minutes or so cloud formation is noticeably affected. The eclipse could clear the skies to some degree in its wake.
Blocking a fraction of the sun’s radiation with orbiting solar shades above the Earth has been proposed as one way to engineer the climate as we speed along towards disaster. Even blocking 5% might help, but there are lots of variables to consider and things could go wrong. So don’t give up on efforts to fight climate change.
Health myths and misconceptions
I did not know that a significant number of people still have fears about eclipses harming them. NASA has a FAQ about eclipse misconceptions. I won’t go through all of them, but suffice it to say that:
Total solar eclipses do not produce unique harmful rays that can cause blindness.
Pregnant women can safely watch eclipses without any harm to their babies.
Eclipses do not poison food.
Eclipses do not foretell major life changes and events about to happen, and when they occur on your birthday (or even 6 months after your birthday) there is no increased risk of health problems about to happen. Astrologers may state otherwise.
Eclipse calendar
Here is the train schedule from NASA for anyone wondering when and where to look up on April 8th, 2024. There is also a good video that explains what percentage of an eclipse you can expect to see outside the zone of totality, similar to that map posted above:
A total solar eclipse is visible from somewhere on Earth about every 18 months. However, many of these events can be seen only from remote places where travel is difficult. For any given place on Earth, a solar totality appears just once each 375 years, on average. A few odd places enjoy two totalities in a single decade while others must wait for more than a millennium.
In the last 100 years, some areas have been in the path of multiple eclipses: New England, for example, saw five.
In New York City, the last total solar eclipse was in 1925.
Chicago has not seen a total solar eclipse in the last 100 years.
On the west coast, San Diego was last eclipsed in 1923.
The city of Los Angeles is in the midst of a “dry spell” of more than 1,500 years without a total solar eclipse.
The location with the longest dry spell is near Tucson; the last solar eclipse was in the year 797.
In the U.S. the next total solar eclipse won’t happen until 2044. The visible location will be limited to a small arc in the northern midwest.
Coincidentally, the next here will be one year later in 2045. This total solar eclipse in the U.S. will be longer and even better than the one coming up in a month. Will there still be a United States by then?
You can search for future total solar eclipses by major cities here. Philly will not be in complete shadow for a long time. We’ve been waiting since 1478, when the area was inhabited by the Lenape people, who must have seen quite a show. The next total eclipse won’t be in Philly until October 16, 2144. I will be 169 years old by then, and perhaps not doing so well. One more link for my Philly people - here is what we can expect:
Philadelphia won’t experience totality, but this is still a rare and special event as the eclipse reaches 90.1% coverage in the city at its peak.
This is the greatest solar coverage the region has seen since Memorial Day weekend in 1984, which was at 95%. Many will recall the last significant partial non-annular eclipse, on August 21, 2017, when coverage was at 80%.
This site (NationalEclipse.com) also describes what to expect in all the states where the eclipse will be visible and is worth a read.
Here are the 7 solar eclipses that will be visible from parts of the U.S. over the next century.
Mythology
From a great compilation article in Vox I learned of broad categories of stories people used to make sense of the incredible events above. The following is an extended quote:
The Gods are angry with us
In Transylvania, people believed an eclipse was caused by the sun turning its back on the sins of humanity, creating a poisonous dew.
The Inca viewed eclipses as a sign that the sun god Inti was angry, and required appeasement with offerings.
For the Native American Tewa tribe, an eclipse meant that the angry sun was leaving the sky to go visit his home in the underworld.
Aztec priests predicted that if there was a solar eclipse accompanied by an earthquake on the date 4 Ollin, the world would end, so every year on 4 Ollin they would perform a ritual human sacrifice. (As the priests likely knew — they were sophisticated astronomers — there would be no solar eclipse on 4 Ollin until the 21st century.)
The Greeks thought an eclipse meant that the gods were about to rain punishment down on a king, so in the days before an eclipse, they would choose prisoners or peasants to stand in as the king in the hopes that they’d get the eclipse punishment and the real king would be saved. Once the eclipse was over, the substitute king was executed. The word eclipse comes from the ancient Greek word ekleipsis, which means “abandonment.”
The sun is being eaten
In ancient China, the earliest word for eclipse, shih, meant to eat, and eclipses were believed to be caused by a dragon eating the sun.
In Vietnam, the sun eater was a frog.
For the Native American Pomo, it was a bear.
In Yugoslavia it was a werewolf.
In Siberia a vampire.
In ancient Egypt, Apep, the serpent of chaos and death, opposed Ra, the sun god, and was always trying to reach Ra’s skyboat to devour the sundisc — but in the end, Ra was always able to fight him off, and the sun would come back.
In ancient India, Rahu was an immortal demigod with a severed head. He had a grudge against both sun and moon — they were the ones who convinced Lord Vishnu to chop off Rahu’s head in the first place, after he drank the nectar of immortality — so he chased them endlessly across the sky, and sometimes caught them. But whenever he managed to swallow either sun or moon, his victory was short-lived: they’d pass out of the stump of his throat shortly thereafter.
In Norse mythology, the sky wolves Hati and Skoll chase the sun and the moon endlessly, waiting for Ragnarok, when they can finally swallow their prey and plunge the earth into darkness, heralding the final destruction of the Viking gods.
The sun and the moon are working things out
For the Tlingit tribes of North America, as well as some Australian aboriginal cultures, an eclipse meant that the sun and moon were having more children: the stars and planets that became apparent in the darkness of an eclipse but weren’t otherwise visible.
For the Batammaliba people of Togo and Benin in Africa, an eclipse meant the sun and moon were fighting with each other. So to encourage them to come to peace, people would approach eclipses as an opportunity to resolve their feuds and put away old grudges.
For the Inuits, the sun and moon weren’t a married couple but brother and sister. At the beginning of the world they quarreled, and the sun goddess Malina walked away from her brother, the moon god Anningan. Anningan continued to chase after her, and whenever he caught up to her, there was an eclipse.
The world is full of chaos and capriciousness
For ancient Persia, eclipses happened if the trickster pari decided to blot out the sun for fun.
In the legends of multiple Native American tribes — the Cree, the Choctaw, and the Menomini — an eclipse happens because a little boy has trapped the sun in a net, usually to get revenge on the sun for burning him. The boy refuses to release the sun, and an animal has to chew the net open.
And opportunistic tricksters
On his visit to Jamaica in 1504, Columbus extorted food from natives by consulting an almanac, threatening to make the moon disappear, and then agreeing to return it just before the eclipse ended.
In 1806 an Indian in the Midwestern United States named Tenskwatawa won great fame as a prophet - and embarrassed the territorial officials - by using the same technique during a solar eclipse.
American history
A fun article highlights some historical eclipses in America. I’ll highlight just one quote here:
The total solar eclipse of June 24, 1778, began in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and swept eastward, passing close to Philadelphia. There, it was observed by prominent astronomer David Rittenhouse… Thomas Jefferson, who was in Virginia at the time of the eclipse, wrote in a letter to Rittenhouse that “[we] were much disappointed in Virginia generally on the day of the great eclipse, which proved to be cloudy. In [Williamsburg], where it was total, I understand only the beginning was seen.”
Jefferson is also known to have missed the actual fighting in the American Revolution. Upon arriving home, he is quoted as having sung: “What’d I miss? What’d I miss? Virginia, my home sweet home, I wanna give you a kiss. I’ve been in Paris meeting lots of different ladies. I guess I basically missed the late eighties. I traveled the wide, wide world and came back to this.”
Only eight total solar eclipses have hit American soil since the signing of the Declaration of Independence!
~
Here is a great curation of photojournalism around previous eclipses. My favorite two:
Conclusion
While some may fear missing out on popular events like the Taylor Swift Eras tour, for others, the true spectacle lies in natural phenomena like The Great American Eclipse of 2024. The anticipation and excitement surrounding such astronomical events not only captivate our minds but also have profound implications for health and societal dynamics. From awe-inspiring experiences that foster generosity and social connection to the flattening of hierarchies and the promotion of scientific curiosity, eclipses offer a unique opportunity for collective wonder and reflection. However, amidst the awe, it's crucial to heed warnings about potential health risks like solar retinopathy and dispel myths surrounding eclipse-related dangers. As we marvel at the celestial ballet of the sun and moon, let us also appreciate the historical, cultural, and scientific significance of these rare occurrences, reminding us of our place in the vast cosmos and the wonders of our shared humanity.
And let’s really hope for clear skies. I will still be impressed watching the darkness come over the strips of our planet, but I really hope to see the whole celestial dance between the moon, sun, and Earth above.
It would be awesome.
"Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it."
Mary Oliver
Your mission of extending communication beyond office hours is being well served....thank you for sharing and connecting....love that you're traveling to Buffalo....like you, the poet Mary Oliver always took time to remind us about awe, curiosity and wonder.