A total solar eclipse is coming soon and won't return until 2045. Here's what to know

The next big celestial event for the United States is the Solar Eclipse on April 8, 2024.

All of the lower 48 states and Hawaii will be able to see at least some of the eclipse, but Alaska misses out (other than the folks that live on the far eastern coast with Canada who might see the ever-so-slightest sliver of an eclipse).

A solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse are very different events, but both involve three main components -- the sun, the Earth and the moon.

What we see on Earth depends on where these three objects are relative to each other.

A solar eclipse really doesn’t directly involve the Earth; we are merely spectators with a front-row seat when the moon blocks out the sun.

A lunar eclipse actually requires the Earth, because it is the Earth that blocks out the light of the sun, casting a shadow onto the moon.

And how we safely view these two events is also very different.

A lunar eclipse can be viewed with our eyes or a telescope without any risk of damage. A solar eclipse, whether partial or total should never be viewed with the naked eye.

Special sunglasses are required, but as we learned in 2017, you must buy them from a trusted source or permanent damage can be inflicted onto your eyes.

The special glasses also allow you to literally see the moon crescent sliding across the sun, something that can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience and unforgettable.

So, what is a partial vs. annular vs. total eclipse?

A total eclipse is when the moon completely covers the sun creating total darkness, which will happen on April 8th.

An annular eclipse is similar to a total eclipse, but the moon does not completely block the sun, so we get the ring of fire around the moon’s edges.

And a partial eclipse is when someone can witness the eclipse, but not in its totality, so only a portion of the sun is blocked out.

In U.S., the folks that see a total eclipse could see up to four and half minutes of darkness, twice as long as the big eclipse in August of 2017.

While the “path of totality” stretches Mexico to Canada and includes about 44 million people, the width is only 115 miles, meaning that most Americans will only see a partial eclipse, but still enough to be pretty special.

Within the U.S., the path of totality begins at the Texas-Mexico border and crosses around Dallas. It then continues northeast through Arkansas, into Ohio and then across the New England-Canada border.

Folks on either side of this line, including much of the Eastern United States and the Rockies, will see between 60% and 80% of totality. South Florida can expect 40-60% and the Pacific Northwest drops to about 20% which leaves Alaska seeing little or none of the eclipse.

Some of the biggest cities that will be right in the heart of the eclipse include Dallas, Little Rock, Buffalo and then Montreal.

The reason for the four minutes plus of totality is the size of the moon relative to the sun.

Because the moon make’s its closest approach of the month the day before the eclipse, the moon will appear larger in the sky which allows for more blocking of the sun.

The next total solar eclipse is in 2026 when Greenland, Iceland and Spain will get a look.

North American won’t experience totality again until 2033 when Alaska will make up for losing out this time, and then we have to wait until 2044 for the next one.

But for our next coast-to-coast eclipse like we’ll see in April, we’ll have to wait until 2045.

For Miami, the event begins at 1:47pm and ends at 4:13pm on April 8^th. The peak is 3:01pm with 56% of the sun obscured.