On April 8, a general solar eclipse will affect parts of 15 U. S. states. It begins in northwestern Mexico and ends in Atlantic Canada. For those on the trail of totality (the moon’s shadow, which will average 185 miles wide), totality lasts up to four minutes and 26 seconds.
The United States has experienced a general solar eclipse of this length in 218 years. “We have to go back to June 16, 1806 to locate an eclipse that had more than four and a half minutes of full visibility from the U. S. “We are not going to be able to use the U. S. and Canada,” Dan McGlaun, Eclipse2024. org, said in an email. Since then, there have been many general solar eclipses in the United States, but never of such long duration. For some U. S. states, For those in the U. S. who experienced the general solar eclipse of 1806, April 8 will be the first time since.
That’s what happened back then and how it had a lasting effect on eclipse chasers and solar science.
By mid-June 1806, the United States had not even celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the country. After exploring the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific, Lewis and Clark returned home. The first federal highway has begun. The population was only five million. Detroit suffered a major fire the previous year, according to the Detroit Free Press. Michigan may not exist as a U. S. state for another 30 years.
On June 16, 1806, the wake of totality made landfall in Baja California and crossed what would become the western United States until it reached Ohio, created in 1803, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. “If you take a look at the map of this eclipse, it was stunning, it passed over a lot of major U. S. cities and with several major U. S. cities along or near the path. “These cities included Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester, and Boston, with Chicago, New York, and Pittsburgh just off the highway. The totality also touched a small portion of Ontario between Buffalo and Detroit.
During the general phase, the Sun’s outer environment (its corona) can be observed with the naked eye for a few minutes. That’s why there’s a lot of noise about general solar eclipses. It’s a majestic sight. It was named corona (corona in Spanish) in honor of the 1806 eclipse performed by Spanish astronomer José Joaquín de Ferrer, whose expedition observed the eclipse from Kinderhook, New York.
The “longest point” of totality occurred in Salem, Massachusetts, where it lasted four minutes and four eight seconds. According to GreatAmericanEclipse. com, the times of the Boston eclipse were distributed in a pamphlet written by Andrew Newell, a local, entitled “Darkness at Noon, 1806. “
The eclipse of 1806 is rarely referred to as the “Tecumseh eclipse. “It is said that a Shawnee leader and his brother Tenskwatawa (called “The Prophet”) decided to form a tribal confederation. The governor of Indiana challenged Tenskwatawa must develop his powers by making the sun “stop the sun,” among other challenges. Tenskwatawa predicted the eclipse. The only challenge with this story is that the planned site of Greenville, Ohio, is slightly off the trail of totality, according to eclipse chaser Bill Kramer. On April 8, it will have 3 minutes and 56 seconds of totality.
“The Eclipse,” an essay by James Fenimore Cooper, says, “It seemed grand, dark, majestic, and forceful, as it demonstrated its power to deprive us entirely of the sun’s rays,” according to the American Writers Museum. of “The Last of the Mohicans” he also adds that he felt “its utter insignificance. “He witnessed it in Cooperstown, New York, according to GreatAmericanEclipse. com.
Although it was published in 1838, an eyewitness account comes from Ebenezer Smith Thomas, who observed it while vacationing in Rhode Island. He wrote that it was “truly and extraordinarily sublime,” according to the Akron Beacon Journal. “The birds flew in apparent misery and terror,” the domestic chickens ran in all directions, sneering as if they were frightened,” Thomas wrote. “All this tumult continued during the silence of midnight. “
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I wish you clear skies and wide-open eyes.