This video, created by Rick Fienberg, Project Manager of the AAS Solar Eclipse Task Force, explains why you should get into the path of totality for the April 8, 2024, North American total solar eclipse (or any other total solar eclipse).
The video charts the decrease in ambient brightness with eclipse magnitude (the fraction of the Sun's diameter covered by the Moon) from 1st contact, when the Moon takes its first "bite" out of the Sun, to 2nd contact, the beginning of totality. This period lasts about 75 minutes.
The main takeaway is that even during a very deep partial solar eclipse it doesn't get particularly dark. Only within the narrow path of the Moon's umbra (inner shadow) -- the path of totality -- does it truly get dark, and only very suddenly in the last minute or so before the Moon fully covers the Sun's bright face.
This change in illumination occurs much faster than at sunset. Daylight returns just as suddenly at the end of totality. Only for the precious few minutes of totality, which you get only if you're within the path, can you experience the myriad wonders that make a total solar eclipse such an awesome spectacle.
The video also mentions many of the other phenomena that you can see and feel only within the path of the Moon's dark shadow.
If you possibly can, don't settle for a partial solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Make your way into the path of totality, and you'll understand what all the fuss is about.
More info: eclipse.aas.org/
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