If you’re in New Hampshire April 8, get to the path of totality, eclipse expert says

A total solar eclipse will be visible in northern New Hampshire and parts of Vermont and Maine on April 8. Photo/University of Maine Versant Power Astronomy Center

MANCHESTER, NH – Imagine that you have tickets for really good seats at a Taylor Swift concert, but as you’re driving there, in sight of the stadium, you inexplicably turn around and go home. No concert. No contact, or even a glimpse, of one of the biggest stars in the music universe. Nothing.

That, according to author and eclipse chaser David Baron, is the equivalent of not traveling on April 8 to the path of totality for the solar eclipse.

But Manchester will still get a 95% partial eclipse, so you’re wondering, isn’t it more like going to the concert and sitting in the parking lot and hearing the music, albeit faintly, but not being inside for the full effect?

No.

“It’s more like you’re a mile away, and you can see the stadium, and you can see the stadium lights and you know that something really exciting is happening there, but you can’t hear it and you know, you just know that it’s right over there,” Baron, author of “American Eclipse” [Liveright Publishing; 2017, 2024], said in an interview Thursday with Ink Link.

Or, to drop the metaphor, you’re still wondering, isn’t it really just the difference between it being pretty dark out during the day (partial eclipse) and totally dark (total eclipse)?

“I totally get it,” Baron said. “Until you’ve seen a total solar eclipse, which the vast majority of people never have, there’s no way to really comprehend it. But of course [people may think] ‘I know what it’s like when it gets dark. It gets dark every night. What’s the big deal?”

“A total solar eclipse is the most awe-inspiring spectacle in all of nature,” he said. “And it’s exceptionally rare for one to come where you are…It is unlike anything else. It is the closest thing to space travel that you can experience without leaving the surface of the earth.”

He added, “To see that, you can’t be in Manchester.”

In New Hampshire, the totality path will be over northern Coos County, north of Berlin. Most of the rest of the state will see a 95% partial eclipse, with a small wedge of southeastern New Hampshire seeing less.

A screen image from an interactive map on greatamericaneclipse.com shows the April 8 solar eclipse path of totality through northern New England. Image/greatamericaneclipse.com

What a total solar eclipse reveals

There are three types of solar eclipse: a partial eclipse, in which only a portion of the moon passes in front of the sun; an annular eclipse, sometimes called a ring of fire eclipse, in which the moon in full passes in front of the sun, but because it’s so far away it doesn’t totally block the sun; and a total eclipse, in which the sun is fully covered.

Baron said that instead of thinking about a total solar eclipse as something being hidden – the sun – look at it from the perspective of what is revealed.

“It’s during the total eclipse that the blue sky suddenly gets stripped away, and you can now see what’s overhead, but blocked by the blue sky on any other day,” he said.

Those in the totality path will see up to 3 minutes, 31 seconds of total eclipse starting at 3:28 p.m. with the final exit of the moon’s shadow from the state at 3:31 p.m.

And just in case you’re thinking, “Meh, I’ll catch the next one,” keep in mind that the next total solar eclipse that will be visible from New Hampshire is in 2079.

A total solar eclipse happens about once every 18 months somewhere in the world, but as Baron writes in “American Eclipse”:

“Reaching the path of totality is often problematic. Eclipse paths snake across the globe like spaghetti thrown at a map. They traverse oceans more often than land, remote regions more often than populated ones.”

Baron’s eclipse chasing – he’s seen eight total solar eclipses – began when, as a reporter for NPR, he covered an annular solar eclipse on May 10, 1994, in Concord. Afterward, Williams College astronomer Jay Pasachoff told him, “Before you die, you owe it to yourself, at least once, to experience totality.”

Baron saw his first total solar eclipse in Aruba in 1998 and was hooked. His most recent one was April 2023, when he traveled to the farthest reaches of northwest Australia, “the hardest part of Australia to get to,” to see a total solar eclipse that lasted 56 seconds.

“And it was worth it,” he said.

Baron will be watching the April 8 eclipse in Waco, Texas, where he will also attend the premiere of the musical “American Eclipse,” based on his book, at Baylor University’s Baylor Theatre.

While northern New Hampshire will get a total solar eclipse, most of the state will get a 95% partial eclipse. Author David Baron, who has seen eight total solar eclipses, urges New Hampshire residents to get into the path of totality for “the most awe-inspiring spectacle in all of nature.” Map/New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs

Partial vs. total solar eclipse in NH

If you’re not in the path of totality April 8?

“Manchester [and most of the state] will see a very deep partial eclipse, which will be very interesting. I don’t want to discount it, but the total eclipse is a million times better,” Baron said.

Seeing a partial solar eclipse “is a fundamentally different experience” from seeing a total solar eclipse.

That’s where the Taylor Swift concert metaphor comes in. “You’re not getting the show,” he said.

For one thing, you can only look at a partial eclipse with special glasses (widely available, more on these later). Viewers of the total eclipse will need those, too, during the partial eclipse.

Partial eclipse viewers will see “a really bright crescent in the sky.” Baron said that “will be interesting.”’

But farther north, “As soon as the moon covers the last bit of the sun and if you end up in a total eclipse, you plunge into twilight. It’s as if the lights get turned off. And at that moment, if you’re in the path of totality, at the moment of totality, you can and should take off those eclipse glasses and you then can look with the naked eye at the sun, which is the most dazzling sight in the heavens.”

He said the sun’s outer atmosphere, the solar corona, “is just mesmerizing.”

“It’s like this wreath woven out of silvery thread that hangs out there in space.”

Other things that Baron suggested solar eclipse viewers look for:

  • “The main thing is the sun itself.  And there is no other time than during a total solar eclipse that you can with the naked eye see the sun’s outer atmosphere.”
  • Up to five planets flanking the sun. “So, you’ll literally, with your eye, be looking at the center of the solar system, seeing the sun and the planets together. It’s truly surreal.” They’ll look like “really bright stars.”
  • The chromosphere, the sun’s lower level atmosphere, “which is the most dazzling scarlet pink color,” and visible at the beginning and end of totality.
  • Prominences, which look like red flames leaping off the sun;
  • “Amazing” colors in the sky. “Overhead it’s twilight, a deep purple-gray, while on the horizon, all around you, it’s like sunset. So you have a 360-degree orange sunset while it’s twilight overhead.”
  • As totality is about to set in, and right afterward, there are “shadow bands” on the grounds, “weird ripples of light as if you’re on the bottom of a swimming pool.”

He urged those heading north not to just get a mile into the path of totality, but as close to the center as possible.

For those who don’t go north, there are still things to see. During the partial solar eclipse viewers may see tiny crescent suns on the ground, then shadows becoming “weird and sharp.” Colors will also look different.

Learning about the eclipse

Baron’s book is full of eclipse history and insights, but focuses on the 1878 total solar eclipse, and advances in science and culture at the time that made it a touchpoint for scientific expeditions and studies. More than 150 years later, there isn’t as much for science to learn from total solar eclipses, Baron said.

“But there are still some questions to be answered,” he said.

Astronomers across New England are keeping an eye on the April 8 event. The University of New Hampshire Extension has a webpage about it, including information for teachers on how to make it relevant for students. The University of Maine Astronomy Center also has a page, and is holding a month of events leading up to the big day.

It’s also gearing up to be a big day for tourism and business. VisitNH.gov has a variety of resources, including a recording of a webinar for businesses on how to promote their business in relation to the April 8 eclipse. The webpage also has a flipbook produced by Yankee Magazine with information about the eclipse that target different regions in the state.

David Baron, author of “American Eclipse.” Photo/David Baron

Many businesses and organizations in the totality path in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont are holding special promotions, parties and events. There are also many that aren’t in the totality path. In Manchester, SEE Science Center will hold an eclipse celebration in Arms Park from 2 to 4:30 p.m.

The science center, 200 Bedford St., is selling eclipse glasses for $2 a pair, and almost all of the eclipse-related webpages have information on where to get eclipse glasses. They’re necessary for anyone who looks at the partial eclipse and doesn’t want the much brighter sun to fry their eyes.

The only thing that could get in the way of all of this viewing and fun is the weather. If it’s not a clear day, or there’s not a clear view between viewers and the sun, there won’t be much to see.

“There’s no sugarcoating it,” Baron said. “If it’s a truly overcast day it’s going to be a disappointment. Whether you’re at the totality or in Manchester, it’ll go from being a gray day to either being a dark gray day in Manchester to just being a black day if you’re in the path of totality.”

Baron, who also has a page with information and resources about the April 8 event on his website, said he doesn’t know if he’d drive to the path of totality if he knew there was no chance of seeing the eclipse.

“However, what I might do if I lived in Manchester, and the forecast was horrible in Manchester, but not in Texas, I might get in my car and drive to Texas,” he said.

Baron said there’s also a tangential benefit to viewing a total solar eclipse.

He said those who see one will never forget it. “You’ll talk about it for the rest of your life.”

It’s also a bonding experience. “Go see it with friends, loved ones. And even the strangers you might meet, you’ll bond with,” he said.

Research in recent years into the “phenomenon of awe,” of being in the presence of a higher force, “Is a really important human experience, and one of the things it does is it dissolves the ego and it makes people feel connected,” Baron said. “Share the experience with the people who are most important in your life.”

He added, “I was given the advice back in the 1990s that I should go see a solar eclipse once in my life and I’m so glad I took that advice.”

Now he is passing the magic of that advice on.

“I can’t stress enough, get yourself into the path of totality,” he said. “I hope that all of southern New Hampshire and southern Vermont is just completely emptied out on April 8 and everyone’s up north.”