A Billion People Witness First of Two “Great American Eclipses”
By Konstantin Bikos. Published 14-Oct-2023
The Moon’s shadow just swept over the Americas, enchanting solar eclipse enthusiasts in 67 countries. We were on the ground to capture the event for the rest of the world. Watch the highlights!
A still from our stream during annularity at our stream locations.
©timeanddate.com
An Awe-Inspiring Sight
Timeanddate is collaborating with NASA 360, the Kendall Planetarium at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, the Planetario de Medellín in Colombia, the National Observatory of Brazil, the San Diego Astronomy Association, and others to bring you live footage of this annular solar eclipse—the first of two “Great American Eclipses.”
This time, we set up our telescopes and cameras in Roswell, New Mexico and Odessa, Texas to give the world a front-row seat to the event.
“It was an awe-inspiring sight,” says timeanddate’s CEO and Chief Eclipse Chaser Steffen Thorsen, who is one of our people on the ground. “The best part was witnessing the dance of Baily’s Beads just before and after annularity. It’s such a fantastic beginning and end to the grandest part of the show.”
Hit play to see the famous “ring of fire” forming in the sky above Odessa in 2X speed!
©timeanddate.com
Watch a recording of the full livestream
Two Billion Eyes in the Sky
According to our brand-new eclipse population data, which shows how many people reside in the path of any eclipse, this eclipse swept across the homes of just over 1 billion people. That’s around 13 percent of the world’s population.
Even with clear skies, though, most of them will have only seen a partial eclipse, where the Moon obscures only parts of the Sun’s disk.
Still, about 31.5 million people reside in the narrow strip where the main phase of this eclipse and the “ring of fire” was visible.
Our eclipse map shows where the eclipse was visible, provided the skies were clear. The “ring of fire” could only be seen from within the dark red strip; the lighter shadings show where a partial eclipse was visible.
©timeanddate.com
99% of the world’s population can get sunlight simultaneously
…And Many More Glued to the Screens
On top of that, our preliminary numbers show that over one million people tuned into our livestream to enjoy real-time telescope footage of the event.
“We’re in awe of those numbers,” our resident astrophysicist and eclipse livestream co-host Graham Jones says. “And we’re so grateful to our friends at the Roswell Astronomy Club for hosting us. Putting on this show wouldn’t be possible without the help of enthusiasts on the ground.”
A Pair of “Great American Eclipses”
This annular solar eclipse was the first of two “Great American Eclipses.” The second one, a total solar eclipse, will grace the skies above North America on April 8, 2024.
See where the 2024 solar eclipse will be visible
For that eclipse, we’re planning to set up camp somewhere in Texas. Wherever we might end up going, it will be where the skies are clear!