On April 8, 2024, I experienced the totality of the eclipse in Ripley, New York. Before this, the most recent total eclipse occurred in 2017, seven years ago. Since this happens so rarely, experiencing it in such a way is extremely memorable. 

My experience started by driving to a small town in New York, which was along the line of totality. Witnessing the eclipse in totality is an unforgettable experience that is worth seeing. According to planetary.org, “there’s no comparison between a partial solar eclipse and total solar eclipse. People who have experienced the latter often say it is a deeply moving event that binds the observer to the Cosmos.” I can personally back this up. In October of 2023, I went to San Antonio, Texas, for a partial eclipse; it was nothing compared to what I saw on Monday.

On the day of the eclipse, it was partially cloudy in Ripley, which would make the eclipse not as visible. This could have been a game changer. According to usatoday.com, “Dave Clark of NationalEclipse.com says clouds can be a showstopper as they block your view of the moon crossing in front of the sun – that’s the main event.” Luckily, my dad had been tracking the clouds in surrounding areas, and on the day of the eclipse we decided to drive a bit to a better viewing location. 

Once we got to a spot with few clouds, we stopped at a small park. A few observers were already there, setting up to view the eclipse. We found a spot where we had good visibility of the sun, and that’s when it all started. 

At around 2:00 PM, we looked through our eclipse glasses as the sun started to fade away as if someone was taking little bites out of it. Although it was happening slowly, every time you looked at the sun you could spot a difference. The temperature started to drop, in a different way than usual nightfall would occur. Birds stopped chirping, as if they were getting ready for night time. The sky became a darker blue, but with no sunset. You could easily say that something didn’t feel quite normal, but it didn’t feel life changing yet. I had a hard time believing that it would become as dark as it did.

At about 3:15 PM, it became as dark as night time within a matter of seconds. Through our glasses, we could see the moon fully blocking the sun, giving it a halo effect. I remember smiling because I was in such shock that something like this could happen. 

Everywhere around us looked like the end of a sunset, and the “night” sky stayed for about four minutes. For those four minutes, there was something soothing about the fact that so many people were looking up at the same sky. Even other aspects of life could feel it too. The birds started flying all around, confused about what was going on.

 According to eclipsesoundscapes.org, “as the Moon blocks out the Sun and the Earth becomes darker and cooler, the animal kingdom reacts. According to researchers, during the maximum phase, birds stop singing and hide in their nests. Bees get louder. They start to buzz loudly and fly in and out of their hives. On farms, chickens and cows start to walk back to the barn because they think it is nighttime. And, interestingly, a solar eclipse seems to wake up nocturnal animals even though it is the middle of the day! Bats and owls become more alert and start to feed.” 

It’s fascinating to me how animals react to the eclipse—they show a strong response to the sudden change in light and temperature, acting instinctively despite it being the middle of the day.

Everything then suddenly came to an end. The moon continued moving past the sun, like morning had come in just a few seconds. I remember feeling sad, because this highly anticipated moment was over. Yes, there will be another eclipse many years from now, but there is no promise of tomorrow. I felt grateful that I got to experience this, and I now believe it is something everyone should be able to experience at least once in their life. 

Moments, and even days after, I found myself reflecting. I felt so lucky that I had the opportunity to see the eclipse in the line of totality, and I wished that everyone could have had that experience as well. What I thought about most was how the eclipse seemed to bring everyone together, even if it was only for a few minutes. It was something that everyone had in common, and that sense of unity I will never forget.

Citations:

Total solar eclipse 2024: Why it’s worth getting into the path of… The Planetary Society. (n.d.). https://www.planetary.org/articles/total-solar-eclipse-2024-path-of-totality 

Rice, D. (2024, April 8). Eclipse lovers: Why you should watch the cloud forecast for the April 8, 2024 eclipse. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/weather/2024/03/26/clouds-could-block-the-april-2024-solar-eclipse-forecast-guide/72934623007/ 

Observer training. Eclipse Soundscapes. (n.d.). https://eclipsesoundscapes.org/observer-training-l5/