Part I – Is this a Curse on Our Region?
Near the end of the 1972 Carly Simon hit You’re So Vain, she sings:
Then you flew your Lear Jet up to Nova Scotia
To see the total eclipse of the sun
I never expected to see one in person, but in August 2017, I was driving my daughter on a college tour and we were driving from North Carolina State to the University of Georgia. With the tours and interviews, we crossed our fingers that we would get there in time. In South Carolina, we just made it into the path of the total solar eclipse and pulled over to the side of the road. Soon we were plunged into an eerie darkness, as the path of totality of the eclipse passed overhead for a little over three minutes. Unlike the former president, I did not look at the eclipse with the naked eye. But we were not alone, as just about every car on the highway stopped to experience a once in a lifetime event.
Or so I thought. The Sun and the Moon will align again on April 8, 2024 and this time I’ll be able to see it from my backyard. Buffalo and Western New York will be in the path of the total eclipse for just under four minutes. And now is time to start planning for this date.
In ancient times, although many civilizations were able to predict an eclipse, they were feared by the common people. The word eclipse comes from the Greek word meaning disappearance and the Greeks considered an eclipse to be an abandonment or punishment from the gods. Many other cultures considered solar and lunar eclipses to be part of a mythical celestial battle. The Chinese believed that during an eclipse, the sun (or moon) was eaten by a heavenly dragon.
Solar Eclipses also are featured in key events in the three Abrahamic religions. In the 10 plagues of Egypt that preceded the Jewish Exodus, several theories are possible for the 9th plague, The Plague of Darkness. One of the contenders is a solar eclipse that happened in 1223 BCE, right in the timeframe that biblical historians place these events. In Christianity, the Gospels say that the sky darkened at the time of Jesus’s death on the cross. In this case, two solar eclipses – one in 29 CE, lining up with the generally accepted biblical historical timeline of Jesus – another in Anno Domini 33, if you prefer to count from Jesus’s birth – coincide with the event that led to the rise of the religion that shaped European history. In Islam, the Quran describes an eclipse that preceded the birth of the prophet Muhammad. Researchers have been able to identify a solar eclipse in 569 CE.
With this historical precedent, it is ironic that people now come from all over the world to experience the three to four minutes of a total eclipse (and experience shows that it has not been a curse on these locations). The 2017 “Great American Eclipse” (named for its extremely rare coast to coast path) passed over the homes of 12 million Americans. It was estimated that up to 7.4 million people traveled to be in the path of the total eclipse. Cities like St. Louis and Memphis reported record tourism numbers for the eclipse and the 2024 may exceed even those as major cities like Toronto and Chicago are only hours away from joining in on the fun.
Tomorrow, we will explore what happens during a solar eclipse.
Stay tuned at buffaloeclipse.org/science
The following organizations have been collaborating, to ensure that Buffalo is sufficiently prepared:
Buffalo Astronomical Association
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
Penn Dixie Fossil Park & Nature Preserve
The Planetarium Association of WNY (PAWNY)
Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium
Williamsville Space Lab Planetarium
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