It’s being hailed as the “Great North American Eclipse.” The longest since 1806, in fact, the best since 2017 and the last until 2033 in Alaska, and 2044 in Montana and the Dakotas.
But it’s not exclusively an American eclipse. In fact, creatures (and possibly aliens) in the southern hemisphere will be the first to see it, and the last will be 1,338 passengers on a British cruise ship.
It may cross 43.8 million people on the North American continent on April 8, but the narrow path of totality (115 miles wide, on average) is far longer than the 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers) of land it happens to cross.
Here’s the truth about the total solar eclipse on April 8—and why it affects the South Pacific to the North Atlantic, not just North America.
On April 8, the path of totality—the moon's shadow—will be about 9,191 miles (14,790 kilometers) long and up to 122 miles (197 kilometers) wide as it surges across Earth’s surface at an average of about 1,500 miles per hour, which is about Mach 2.
However, not even half of that path will occur over land. Most solar eclipses occur mainly over the sea—as this one does: the southwestern Pacific and the north Atlantic oceans.
This eclipse begins in the southern hemisphere. The moon’s central shadow will first touch Earth at sunrise in the Pacific Ocean at 16:39 UTC (12:39 p.m. EDT), about 400 miles south of the equator, where totality will last 2 minutes and 6 seconds. If a ship is around, its passengers will see a “golden corona” rising from the waters. This will happen at a point between Starbuck Island in the Line Islands, Kiribati to the north (which will get a 96.8% partial solar eclipse) and Penrhyn Atoll—part of the Cook Islands—to the south (98.5%).
Starbuck Island is a coral atoll in the Central and Southern Line Islands, 336 miles south of the equator. It was discovered by Valentine Starbuck, captain of a whaling ship, in 1823. Apart from hermit crabs, it's uninhabited, though one TikTok user has noticed a weird object on the beach at its extreme western point with a puzzling straight streak behind it. Could it be a UFO? It’s still there today, according to Google Earth—although since it’s not flying, it’s more of a “UO.”
After striking the planet in the Pacific Ocean, the moon’s shadow will then surge across an empty ocean for about 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers) of ocean to North America, covering Mexico’s remote Islas Socorro—a shield volcano and a haven for marine life and an iconic spot for intrepid divers—on the way.
Exactly three hours, 16 minutes and 45 seconds later, the moon’s central shadow will depart Earth at 19:55 UTC (3:55 p.m. EDT) at sunset in the Atlantic Ocean north of the Azores.
There will be humans there to see it this time—and they
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The pitch is for tropical paradise: turquoise waters that lap a pristine shoreline fringed by lush, mist-streaked greenery. Philippine property giant Megaworld extolls on its Facebook page the virtues of Palawan island, the largest of a 1,780-island group by the same name that hangs to the left of the island nation in the Pacific. Here, Megaworld is pursuing its most complex project yet, a resort and residential estate that will be the island’s biggest real estate development to date.
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A special segment of adventurous travelers will purposely book itineraries with long connections in layover cities just to leave the airport and explore for a few hours or days between flights.
Hotels in cities in the path of the total solar eclipse on April 8 saw record revenue increases, according to a new analysis published by CoStar’s STR.
It’s a relief to lay my rucksack down, plunge hot feet into the cool stream and pause to revel in the fairytale surrounds. Foxgloves stand tall against a cornflower-blue sky, ferns look almost luminous, the water glints in the early summer sunshine. A patch of moss-covered ancient forest provides shade, a cuckoo calls in the distance, mountains layer on the horizon.
Mainland Europe’s first total solar eclipse since 1999 is just 850 days away. Where will you be? As excitement dies down from the “Great American Eclipse,” eclipse chasers are turning their attention to Wednesday, August 12, 2026, when a 183-190-mile-wide moon shadow moves across remote Siberia, Greenland, Iceland and Spain.
For the April 8 total solar eclipse, photographer Levi Mandel traveled to Buffalo, New York, to observe the celestial event—and the many others who journeyed for it. Below, he shares the experience through text and photos.
Did you see the total solar eclipse? Despite clouds in some regions, some sky-watchers in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada were able to get clear views of a totally eclipsed sun for as long as 4 minutes 28 seconds in what was the longest totality viewed from land since 2010—and the longest in the U.S. since 1806.