In one Arkansas city, more than three hundred couples get married the moment the moon passes between the sun and the Earth. Prisoners in New York State were forced to deflate during a total solar eclipse. Parts of Texas declared a state of emergency due to the crowds expected there to witness the phenomenon that will sweep Mexico, the United States and Canada on Monday. Ohio will close schools and suspend all road work on Monday, April 8 to allow traffic to flow freely. The eclipse is real.

Total solar eclipses are rare, but they occur with some regularity. Because the Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun and 400 times closer to Earth, they appear to be about the same size. The moon can block the sun the moment they perfectly intersect in the sky. In broad daylight it then becomes night for a few moments.

In 2017, Americans witnessed a total eclipse. But it’s never been easier for millions of people to experience it – weather permitting. Between 11:07 AM and 5:13 PM local time, the “total path” will pass through Mazatlán, Mexico, via Dallas, Indianapolis and Cleveland in the United States and Niagara Falls, Montreal and Newfoundland in Canada. According to NASA, 31.6 million people live in the area where the eclipse will be complete for several minutes. They can stay at home. Another 150 million people live within driving distance. They will drive and travel.

Eclipse chasers come from all over the world – umbraphiles (Shadow lovers) say the Americans – almost as a matter of fact. Also from the Netherlands.

“The eclipse is a very special experience,” says meteorologist Erik Terpstra, who has witnessed many of the experiences. “But the traffic jams are terrible.”

Terpstra was in Chile in 2019 to attend a total solar eclipse, and was stuck in a traffic jam three hundred kilometers away for twelve hours from the spectacle for minutes. But he’s willing to try “it gets colder in the middle of the day and see how nature reacts.” The moment the moon takes its first bite of the sun, birds start flying wildly, while other animals huddle together and prepare for bed. Some flowers are nearby. “At 99.9 percent dimming, the light stays quite dim, and at 100 percent dimming, the light really goes out,” Terpstra describes.

Other stars or even other planets can be seen in the dark sky. Solar twilight revolves around the moon. Sometimes “pearls” appear, balls of light that sparkle for a moment because the moon’s view is not smooth.

Contrasting hobby

Terpstra is so obsessed with eclipses and other weather and natural phenomena that he travels the world for them. In addition to his work as a meteorologist, he founded a travel agency to introduce others to solar eclipses, northern lights, hurricanes, and tornadoes.

Eclipse is the simplest and most conceived of the genre. “You’d have to be pretty stupid not to miss a solar eclipse if you’re in the right place. But if there are heavy clouds, it’s deceiving. It happened to a lot of people in northern France in 1999, but not him. He knows the best place using weather maps And satellite images. The base on Monday will be in Texas, but there is a risk of clouds there. “Our focus is northern Arkansas or southern Missouri,” Terpstra texted over the weekend.

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He skipped a recent solar eclipse: the one over Antarctica in 2021. That eclipse also attracted eclipse tourists, but he thought the trip was too expensive and had “too big an impact on nature.” Eclipse hunting is an incongruous pastime for people who often say they are very concerned about the climate. “We compensate not only for the flying, but also for all the car movements and then multiply it by three times,” Terpstra promised.

Du Trinh has a slight fascination with solar eclipses, but he became truly obsessed when he saw a photo taken from an airplane during the previous solar eclipse in the United States: A desolate landscape, half light and half dark, with a black moon in the sky. If Trinh thinks, “I want to try that,” he will arrange it, says the IT consultant over the phone from Amsterdam.

Private eclipse trip

He carefully figured out which commercial flight would fly through the total route at the right time and found one from San Antonio to Detroit. But after he booked seat 2A, the flight was rescheduled and would leave late. In a “slight panic,” he rebooked a flight from Austin to Detroit, which the airline Delta Airlines later called a special “eclipse flight.” “Because I was there on time, I kept paying the ‘normal’ price,” Trinh says. However, he has to pay thousands of euros for a thirty-hour flight from Amsterdam, including renting some lenses for his camera.

Delta’s private flight, on a plane with very large windows, is just one of countless commercial initiatives surrounding this natural phenomenon. American companies take advantage of this phenomenon by producing specially brewed Eclipse beers, Eclipse glazed cookies, and Eclipse chips. Hotels, airbnbs Campsites on the entire trail are sold out or unaffordable. According to the account, there is An additional $6 billion in trading volume About a solar eclipse.

Hotels, Airbnbs, and campgrounds on the overall trail are sold out or unaffordable

Of course, hype is also abused. Some places charge hundreds of dollars for a parking space. People who had booked a hotel near Niagara Falls in advance at the regular price for April were suddenly told recently that their reservation had been cancelled. Questionable eclipse glasses have been sold that do not or inadequately protect the eyes when staring directly at the Sun before and after a total eclipse. Theories about the end times and other purposes of God Take the toursamong other things Trump politicians.

“Conspiracy theories are also a business model,” says amateur astronomer Crystal Chadwick. Superstition isn’t for her, but “big luck” is: She was born and lives where the total path of this eclipse and 2017’s path intersect, near Carbondale, Illinois. This means that she can enjoy two solar eclipses in seven years through her family. “A phenomenon of natural beauty that you don’t need a telescope for.”

To Spain and Iceland in 2026

Chadwick traveled extensively to attend special astronomical events, but a space shuttle launch was canceled at the last minute and clouds obscured the meteor shower and northern lights. “So I’d better stay home.” Just like in 2017, the weather is expected to be nice there.

Trinh and Terpstra are already working on their upcoming flights. The meteorologist will remain in the United States after the solar eclipse to look for tornadoes. “I personally find tornado fishing more interesting, because it is more dynamic, unpredictable and not without risk.”

Trinh is making plans for the next solar eclipse, which will pass over Iceland and Spain in 2026. “I will try to convince the Icelandic airline to change the time of its daily flight to Spain. That should be relatively easy, right?” Trinh says. “Or maybe I can charter a helicopter in Iceland with someone who has a pilot’s license.”

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