On Monday, April 8, a wide swath of North America will plunge into darkness for a few minutes in mid-afternoon. A solar eclipse will occur when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, blocking out our precious sunlight for a few rare minutes. The next full solar eclipse won’t occur until 2044, in another 20 years. But eclipse chasers could catch one in 2026 in Greenland, Iceland, or Spain.
More than 30 million people live in the “path of totality,” meaning they’ve got a front-row seat to the astronomical event. Boise is sadly not in the path, so we will only see a partial eclipse at 12:30 p.m. when the sun will be partly covered by the moon.
What To Expect
If the sky is clear, viewers will be able to see a “diamond ring” effect when the moon passes over the sun. You may also sense a drop in temperature, a shift in the wind, and a quieting of wildlife. The farther away you are from the path of totality, the less dramatic this effect will be.
Interestingly, colors with shorter wavelengths (green, blue) will appear brighter during the eclipse than those with long wavelengths (red, orange). So wear something green or blue to take advantage of this “Purkinje effect”!
How to Watch
Do not stare at the sun with your bare eyes! There, we said it. Regular sunglasses are not strong enough, so you’ll want to snag a pair of eclipse glasses.
Staples, Walmart, and REI are all stocked up on eclipse-watching glasses that comply with international standards. Don’t try and cheap out and buy them on Temu or Amazon, as many of these are fake!
Where to Watch
In Your Own Backyard: If you are watching the eclipse from your own backyard, the National Air & Space Museum has many suggestions for how to make the most of it, from making solar eclipse art to multisensory observation activity guides.
How To Document
Photographing the sun during the total phase of an eclipse is complicated and takes a lot of expensive equipment. However, a partial eclipse shows up nicely on any smartphone or small camera if you do it through a pair of eclipse glasses or a pinhole projection. It is also cool to photograph any eclipse projections that might be happening as a result of nearby shadows!
