And NASA is coming too

By Connor Donnellon

Image ©NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

          This year, there is a chance to see an event that only comes once in a lifetime. A solar eclipse will occur this coming April, and the next time that it will be viewable in its totality, will be in another 375 years on average.

          On April 4, 2024, scientists, subject experts, and even NASA astronauts will be in various places in Niagara Falls, including public libraries, the Underground Heritage Center, the Niagara Aquarium, the New York Power Authority Vista, Niagara Falls State Park, and even the Niagara Falls Culinary Institute. Programming will vary from place to place, but the opportunity to learn something new about space from your backyard, is a chance that doesn’t come all that often.

          The eclipse is set to occur on the afternoon of April 8, and it will be covered by multiple news organizations, as well as NASA’s science team. When looking at the eclipse, eye protection is required because it has the ability to cause severe eye injury. In areas of a total solar eclipse, it is only safe to look at the sun when it is 100% percent covered by the moon. In some occurrences, it gets dark enough to wake up nocturnal animals because it will get dark enough for them to think that it’s night time.

          After April 8, there won’t be another solar eclipse in the continental United States until the summer of 2044. On a normal day, we can’t see the corona from the Earth, but during a total eclipse, it allows for science to be conducted because the moon blocks everything except the corona.

          NASA launched a mission in 2018 called the Parker Solar Probe, which studies the corona by taking images and measurements of solar winds. The main question It plans to answer is why the corona is hotter than the surface of the sun. Exhibitions of this research are expected to be in multiple locations, as well as activities for the younger audience too.           This kind of event doesn’t happen often, and on average, it won’t happen in the same location for another 370 years. So, if you want to witness something that will not happen again, take a look in the sky this April, you won’t be disappointed