Science editor Laine Havens and weather editor Nicole Collins guide you through today’s solar eclipse.
The 2024 eclipse represents a rare opportunity to view a total solar eclipse within the U.S. In Ithaca, only a partial eclipse will be visible — meaning that it will never be safe to remove specialized eclipse glasses during viewing. However, a total eclipse will be visible to the northwest in cities like Rochester; Seneca Falls, New York and Canandaigua, New York.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is directly between the sun and the Earth, casting a shadow on the Earth’s surface. This alignment — when the moon’s shadow hits the Earth — is possible only when the moon is in the same plane as the Earth’s rotation around the sun.
Statistically, witnessing a total solar eclipse is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Solar eclipses occur multiple times a year, but because viewing a total eclipse is restricted to the thin path of totality, it is only visible in a small portion of the planet.
Filmed by Laine Havens, Nicole Collins
Edited by Laine Havens, Marian Caballo
Produced by Laine Havens, Nicole Collins