On Monday, April 8, 2024, a total eclipse of the Sun will be visible from parts of the United States and Canada. Although a partial eclipse will be seen from all of North America, the total phase in which the Moon completely covers the Sun (known as totality) will only be seen from within the ~120-mile-wide path of the Moon’s umbral shadow as it sweeps cross Mexico, the United States (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine), and Canada (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland).
The Road Atlas for the Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 contains a comprehensive series of 26 maps of the path of totality across Mexico, the USA and Canada. The large scale (1 inch = 22 miles) shows both major and minor roads, towns and cities, rivers, lakes, parks, national forests, wilderness areas and mountain ranges.
The path of totality on each map is depicted as a lightly shaded region with the northern and southern limits clearly identified. The total eclipse can only be seen inside this path. The closer one gets to the central line of the path, the longer the total eclipse lasts. Gray lines inside the path mark the duration of the total eclipse in 30 second steps. This makes it easy to estimate the duration of totality from any location in the eclipse path.
Armed with this atlas and the latest weather forecasts, the road warrior is ready to chase totality no matter where it takes him/her along the entire path. This mobile strategy offers the highest probability of witnessing the spectacular 2024 total eclipse in clear skies.
Fred Espenak is a retired astrophysicist from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. His primary research involved infrared spectroscopy of planetary atmospheres. He also became NASA's expert on solar and lunar eclipse predictions and created NASA's official eclipse website (eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov).
Known by his nickname "Mr. Eclipse", he is co-author of the popular book Totality - The Great American Eclipses 2017 and 2024. He also wrote 13 NASA eclipse bulletins, each focusing on a major eclipse. In 2014, Espenak published the comprehensive Thousand Year Canon of Solar Eclipses: 1501 to 2500 and the complementary volume Thousand Year Canon of Lunar Eclipses: 1501 to 2500. His most recent publication 21st Century Canon of Solar Eclipses is an essential guide to all eclipses of the Sun this Century.
Espenak's MrEclipse.com website focuses on eclipse photography while the EclipseWise.com website is devoted to the dissemination of his latest eclipse predictions. An avid eclipse chaser, he has participated in dozens of eclipse expeditions around the world including remote and unusual locations such as the Sahara, the Bolivian altiplano, Mongolia, Kenya’s Lake Turkana and Antarctica. His enthusiasm for eclipses spills over into public speaking, and he frequently gives talks about his favorite subject.
In 2003, the International Astronomical Union honored him by naming an asteroid “Espenak.” He spends most clear nights photographing the stars from Bifrost Observatory (AstroPixels.com).
