On Monday, April 8th, the moon will move directly between the earth and the sun, resulting in a total solar eclipse visible in northern Mexico, much of the United States, and far-eastern Canada. Over the course of about one hour and 15 minutes, the moon will slowly move in front of the solar disk until it completely blocks it out. The complete covering of the solar disk marks totality, when darkness covers the part of the earth that happens to be in the deepest part of the moon’s shadow. This is a truly awesome spectacle that only lasts a few minutes, and people often gasp in amazement as some bright stars become visible, and crickets, thinking it is evening, begin chirping!
During totality, but only during totality, one can safely look directly at the sun without eye protection. At this time, the sun’s outermost layer, the corona, will be visible as hairy, stream-like projections extending outward from the sun’s surface. After totality ends, more and more of the sun’s disk will be revealed again as the sun and moon continue on their respective celestial journeys.
The path across Earth travelled by the darkest part of the moon’s shadow, the umbra, is called the path of totality. If the path of totality passes over your location, the total solar eclipse will be visible (weather permitting) where you live. The precise times for the start and end of the eclipse, including the start and end of totality, depend on your location.1
This year, the path of totality passes over the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in North Texas, where the Institute for Creation Research is located. ICR is offering a number of resources to help you prepare for this once-in-a-lifetime event.2 We have prepared a special booklet titled Unlocking Eclipses: What to Look for, How to View Them, and Why They Matter that provides instructions for how to safely view the eclipse.3 It also explains how total solar eclipses and other phenomena in our solar system show evidence of both God’s handiwork and recent creation.
Moreover, ICR and the creation astronomy club Day4 are sponsoring a special Countdown to the Great American Solar Eclipse event on Saturday, April 6th, two days before the eclipse itself, at First Baptist Church in Forney, Texas. There will be two special guest speakers: NASA astronauts Colonel Jeff Williams and General Charlie Duke, Apollo astronaut and the youngest man to ever walk on the surface of the moon (yes, you read that correctly!).
This fun-filled event will include breakout and workshop sessions, food trucks, activities for kids, and the opportunity to greet Colonel Williams and General Duke. Breakout session speakers include astro-photographer and author of Wonders Without Number David Rives, former Cassini team member at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and founder of Creation Evolution Headlines David Coppedge, former NASA engineer Cathryn Sterling, and astro-photographers Parker Eng and Robert Brayton.
Tickets are still available, but registration is required. You may sign up here4 or at the Day4 website.5
Additionally, we are hosting the special event When Day Meets Night: Faith & Science Under the Eclipse at the ICR Discovery Center on Monday, April 8th. Tickets to the Discovery Center may be purchased here.6 We are offering a live science presentation, several free planetarium shows (but you need to reserve your tickets online), and the opportunity to observe the eclipse from the Discovery Center parking lot (weather permitting). Eclipse glasses will also be provided.
The Great American Solar Eclipse is a once-in-a-lifetime display of God’s glory for many of us in North America. Let ICR help you make the most of it!
References
- The website eclipse2024.org provides the eclipse times for every city in North America and offers instructions in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese on how to view the eclipse safely.
- Although solar eclipses are fairly common, total solar eclipses in a particular location are rare, being separated by hundreds of years.
- Unlocking Eclipses: What to Look for, How to View Them, and Why They Matter. 2024. Dallas, TX: Institute for Creation Research.
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Tickets are still available. Sign up today at https://www.eventcreate.com/e/dfw-solar-
eclipse. - Day4
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Purchase tickets to the Discover Center at https://discoverycenter.icr.org/plan-you
r-visit.
* Dr. Jake Hebert is a research associate at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Texas at Dallas.
