On April 8, people in Utah will be able to watch a solar eclipse, along with millions of other Americans. A solar eclipse occurs when “the silhouette of the moon completely covers the sun, leaving only the sun’s corona visible around its edges,” per the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City. Total solar eclipses are rare, with the next one set to occur in 2044.
For this event, the eclipse’s path of totality encompasses areas from Mexico to Maine.
While Utah does not lie on the path of totality, onlookers in Salt Lake City will experience the eclipse at near 50% totality, according to NASA’s eclipse map. The phenomenon begins at around 11:25 a.m. in Utah and will be viewable until 1:40 p.m.