Total solar eclipse 2024: Which countries get to see the celestial event

The eclipse’s path. (Image credit: In the Sky)

The red part of the map above indicates where the eclipse will be visible. The outermost red line traces where in the world the Moon will cover any part of the Sun’s disc. The inner lines show where the Moon will cover 20 per cent, 40 per cent, 60 per cent and 80 per cent of the disc during the greatest eclipse. The thick red line at the centre shows the narrow path where the total solar eclipse will be visible.

Why are solar eclipses not visible to the entire world?

Because of the much smaller size of the Moon, it can only cast a shadow on our planet spanning up to a few hundred kilometres. And that is what a total solar eclipse is — part of the planet coming directly under the thickest part of the Moon’s shadow when it moves in front of the Sun. Therefore, the eclipse will only be visible to a small area through which this shadow of the Moon passes.

Why don’t solar eclipses happen more often?

Solar eclipses happen when the Sun, the Moon and the Earth get perfectly aligned in that order. If the Mon orbited the Earth in the same planet the planet orbited the Sun, an eclipse would happen about ten times a month but that is not the case. The plane of the orbit of the Moon around the Earth is about 5 degrees apart from the planet of the orbit of the Earth and the Moon. This means that the three celestial bodies are perfectly aligned much more rarely.

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