Solar eclipse fans: Get ready for this rare celestial event | The Excerpt
On a special episode of The Excerpt podcast: On April 8th, tens of millions of people across the North American continent will be able to step outside their doors and witness a rare total solar eclipse - that’s when the moon passes between part of the Earth and the sun, temporarily blocking its light. It's our last chance to see one for 20 years in America. Charting a path through 13 states from Texas to Maine, and also passing parts of Mexico and Canada, skywatchers will show up in droves, snarling traffic, to don eclipse glasses and look up as the sun turns black. USA TODAY National Correspondent Elizabeth Weise has been covering this story for USA TODAY, detailing what makes this celestial event so incredibly special.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
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Dana Taylor:
Hello and welcome to The EXCERPT. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Thursday, March 28th, 2024, and this is a special episode of The EXCERPT.
On April 8th, tens of millions of people across the North American continent will be able to step outside their doors and witness a rare total solar eclipse. That's when the moon passes between part of the earth and the sun, temporarily blocking its light. It's our last chance to see one for 20 years in America.
Charting a path through 13 states from Texas to Maine, and also passing parts of Mexico and Canada. Sky watchers will show up in droves, snarling traffic to don Eclipse glasses and look up as the sun turns black.
National correspondent Elizabeth Weise, has been covering this story for USA Today detailing what makes the celestial event so incredibly special. Thanks for joining us, Beth.
Elizabeth Weise:
I'm always glad to be here.
Dana Taylor:
When it suddenly becomes dark in the middle of the day, animals like insects and birds fall silent and the nocturnal ones start to stir. You wrote about scientists who'll be observing animals at zoos in the path of totality. What kinds of things have they seen animals do in the past?
Elizabeth Weise:
It is wild and in fact, the guy, the scientist who did this, who's a professor of an animal anatomy just on a lark, thought he'd go to a zoo and he didn't think he was going to see anything, this was back in 2017. And 75% of the animals behaved really differently. The bears immediately headed back into their cages because they thought it was dinner time.
The flamingos all gathered in a circle around their chicks and their eggs to protect them. They didn't know what was going on. The giraffes started galloping around their enclosure like mad. Clearly they were perturbed by what was happening, and the oddest was the Galapagos Turtles, which are huge. They're 900 pounds and they live 150 years, they started mating. No one knows why.
Dana Taylor:
And what about our pets? Is there something to watch for there?
Elizabeth Weise:
Pet owners do not like it when I say this, but I talked to the head of the American Veterinary Medical Society and also the American Kennel Club. They said, "Your cats could care less or maybe they're thinking really deep thoughts, but they're not telling us." So you don't need to worry about your cats. And your dogs, they all said, "If you can leave them at home because they don't care about the eclipse, they don't really look up, they're not going to get involved." But what they do tag onto is if they're surrounded by a bunch of really overexcited humans, which is exactly what happens during eclipse. So they do suggest keeping them at home.
There was a small study that looked at dogs during a partial eclipse, and it found that about half of the dogs when the sun went dark, started barking and yowling and half of them, which had been barking, stopped. So it probably just depends on the dog. Nobody exactly knows. They're doing a much larger study for this eclipse, and we'll know more in probably six months to a year when they publish.
Dana Taylor:
Now let's turn to our species, humans. What are some of the interesting things that we earthlings might experience as the eclipse happens?
Elizabeth Weise:
We drove up to Oregon with the kids in 2017. I really wanted to see it. I'd seen one eclipse when I was a kid, and it really was a remarkable experience and I wanted to feel it again and show it to my kids. It is an amazing thing. So you're outside and everything gets quiet, like the birds stop chirping, the insects stop bugging. It just gets quiet, and the darkness is of a different kind than a cloud coming over the sun.
It is darkness like night falling only it happens really fast. And I swear there was something just kind of innate in us that goes, "Ooh, the sun should not be going away that fast. Something's wrong." But it's also very awe-inspiring. It gives you this feeling of the earth is one small ball in space and you think of how big the sun is, how big the moon is, how far away they are. It can be a spiritual feeling. It can just make you think we need to pay attention to kind of this greater space around us because it is really great.
Dana Taylor:
Beth, our colleague, Mark Ramirez, wrote that solar eclipses were once seen as foreboding, sometimes linked to major religious events. Are they still of spiritual significance today?
Elizabeth Weise:
For the length of human history eclipses, again, that feeling of, "Something is happening that, wow, should not be happening this fast and not at this time." So it is been linked in many major religions over the tens of thousands of years, and I think it does carry a special significance. Actually, Ed Stonehenge in England, the people who call themselves druids, actually get the right to come out to some of the stone circles when there are eclipses to celebrate.
Dana Taylor:
Beth, both rural and urban areas situated along the eclipse path are anticipating an influx of people, out-of-towners will be coming from all over to get the chance to be in the right spot at the right time. What are authorities in those places sharing with residents about how they're preparing and how long could roads be jammed for?
Elizabeth Weise:
They're preparing, which is great because in 2017 in some places it got a little crazy. The traffic was horrific where I was. So in many places, especially places which will be in the path of totality, which is about four and a half minutes, and many people who want to view the eclipse will be going to those areas, the authorities are going to have police out marking the way.
They'll be informing people a lot over radio. Be careful if you're going to stay home, stay home. If you're going someplace, realize that there will be big traffic jams. So I think the best advice is wherever you're going to watch the eclipse, you want to listen to the highway radio right now because you'll be getting useful information.
And Google and places like that that will tell you to take smaller roads to get between places. Those smaller roads are going to be full of people who have parked along the side of the road to watch the eclipse, and as soon as it's over, they're going to flood all those little tiny roads trying to get to the nearest freeway.
So expect a massive parking jam. And the best advice I got was from actually the head of the AVMA who was in Idaho in 2017, and she was like, "Just pack a picnic and after the eclipse hang out for a bit until the traffic calms down." Especially if you have an animal, a dog in the car, hang out a bit so that you're not stuck in traffic for seven hours.
Dana Taylor:
So if I were to make the trip, where should I head? Texas, Arkansas, Ohio, Maine. What are you hearing is the best spot and why?
Elizabeth Weise:
This is important. There is no best spot. People shouldn't drive a zillion miles to get to a best spot. The best spot is something in the totality that is within a reasonable distance of where you are if possible. There will be, and you can look at a USA Today site, we have stories up on this now of places that have special eclipse celebrations brand.
However, the other thing you need to check out and our weather guide, Doyle Rice, has a story that you will be updating. You need to be looking for where it will be cloudy and we, of course, we won't know that until exactly the day of, but check that out. Look at the weather a week or a couple of days ahead so that you're going someplace where it isn't cloudy. Because as someone who lives in San Francisco and where it's often cloudy and foggy and every 4th of July we just see colored fog, you don't want to have gone a long way to where there's an eclipse and get there and then just have the clouds get darker.
Dana Taylor:
And then there are going to be people who can't make a trip at all or go outside to watch. And you said NASA is doing something special.
Elizabeth Weise:
So there's going to be a lot of great live streams. NASA's doing a great one, which you can watch online or some of the public TV stations will be airing it as well. Where they'll have actual astronomers and scientists talking about what's happening. So that's a great one, and that's going to run for two and a half hours. So there's going to be a lot of astronomy and science, which is great for nerds like me who love that. There will be eclipse broadcasts all over the place, and of course on USA Today.
Dana Taylor:
What about other accommodations that you've seen regarding people who live with a disability?
Elizabeth Weise:
We actually have a great story on USA Today that will be in the notes that you can read about different projects that have been created to create our role and other experiences for folks who might experience the eclipse differently. I think the one piece of advice I would give, very much remembering 2017 is, and especially for folks who are blind, the eclipse, clearly it's something that you see, but it's also really something that you hear.
As I said, nature gets quiet in a remarkable way, and that silence that stretches out during totality is really a powerful thing to experience. And the only thing I would suggest is you want to be somewhere where a lot of people aren't talking. Because in 2017, I remembered it as being a kid when everything got quiet. And then in 2017 in Oregon, we were around a lot of other people and people chatted the whole time, and I wanted to experience that quiet.
So if you could find someplace, even if it's in your own backyard where there aren't going to be a lot of people talking, so you could actually experience it, especially if you're experiencing it through your ears.
Dana Taylor:
There are also a group of people known as Extreme Eclipse Chasers. Who are they and how do they plan on watching?
Elizabeth Weise:
There are folks coming from all over the world for this eclipse. They're Extreme Eclipse Chasers, I mean, I drove from California to Oregon, so I spent a night in a Motel 6. There are people who will fly from Europe to the states or from the states to Asia to experience an eclipse. And they happen frequently all over the globe not just in the US. And so there are people who've seen 10, 15 of these. So they will be traveling a really long way. They watch the weather. They usually have telescopes and incredible cameras, so they're totally into it.
Actually, the guy that did that 2017 study looking at how animals reacted, that was kind of fascinating. He said, "Yeah, I never really paid attention to eclipses. And I thought, Oh, I should just do this." And he's like, "Now I am totally hooked". And I find myself, "Oh, can I get to that eclipse? How much would it be to fly to that eclipse?" Once you've experienced it, you think, "Oh wow, this was incredible. I'm going to do this again."
Dana Taylor:
Well, how concerned should stargazers be about the weather? If it's cloudy, will it even be noticeable to people and animals?
Elizabeth Weise:
So it depends on what the weather is where you are. If it happens, it's a warm day, when the sun goes fully out, it does get noticeably cooler for a brief moment. As I said, totality is just a little more than four minutes. That said, if you really want to experience it, you want to be someplace where it's not cloudy because you're not going to get...
The cool thing about the eclipse is looking at the sun only through safety glasses, or you can look at the shadows that are being cast on the ground. That's also really cool, and you're not going to see that if there are clouds. So check out, we will have a constantly updated story about what the weather outlook is along the path of the totality, as will the weather station and everybody else.
Dana Taylor:
And then I have to ask, tens of thousands of us will be out buying special glasses to wear so we can watch the eclipse safely. What happens to all those glasses when it's over?
Elizabeth Weise:
First thing, you do want those glasses, you really can injure your eyes permanently if you look at the sun during an eclipse and you're not wearing the special glasses and no your sunglasses do not cut it. You need the special Mylar glasses that protect your eyes. So that said, once you've bought them a couple of things, some of the places you buy them from will be taking them back to do bulk recycling. So you can look for that.
And sometimes opticians will be recycling them after eclipses, groups like Astronomers Without Borders. You can mail them to them and they'll take them. And we actually have a story on USA Today, we'll have a link in the comments that tells you where you can send them.
Finally, if you can find a place to sell them, most of the glasses, they're very much like the glasses that you wear to go see a 3D movie in a movie theater. So it's kind of a cardboard piece of glasses with plastic right in front. You can open up the cardboard, pull out the plastic, throw the plastic away, and then you can take the cardboard and recycle it so you're recycling just a tiny percentage of the weight.
Dana Taylor:
Beth, did anything surprise you while you're reporting on this? Anything that symbolizes why this rare event is so meaningful to people?
Elizabeth Weise:
When I talked to the professor who was studying animal behavior in zoos, because as humans, when we experience a solar eclipse, we have this feeling of awe and wonder, but we've kind of also got our minds racing. "What are people around me doing and what are people thinking? And oh, did I take a picture of it?"
And he said two things. He said, "One, put down your phone. Put down your camera. Pay attention, be present for it." Because the animals that he was watching, 75% of them reacted really strongly. When you take away our little monkey minds that are always going, it really impacted them strongly. And so when a scientist says, "Yeah, you want to record it, you want to get data, but take a second just to take it in." I think that was powerful.
And the other thing that I will say in both in 2017 and when I was a kid, I remember standing on a hill watching this amazing event, and there's all these people and we're all looking up and we're just, "Wow, this is incredible." And then looking off in the distance and there's the freeway and cars are just driving along. People are just like, "Yeah, whatever." I'm like, "This is an amazing thing." Take the time to be present because it's a remarkable thing and we're so lucky that it's happening in an area this time where a large percentage of Americans, and even if you can't get to the totality, a little bit, is still pretty remarkable.
Dana Taylor:
Beth, it is always good to talk to you. Thank you so much for being on, The EXCERPT.
Elizabeth Weise:
I am always happy to be here and thank you so much.
Dana Taylor:
Thanks to our senior producer Shannon Rae Green and Bradley Glanzrock for their production assistance. Our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending a note to podcasts@usatoday.com. Thanks for listening. I'm Dana Taylor. Taylor Wilson will be back tomorrow morning with another episode of The Excerpt.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Solar eclipse fans: Rare celestial event arrives April 8 | The Excerpt
