Sorry, Wyoming. The total solar eclipse is going to skip the Cowboy State.
The eclipse, which will chart a narrow 115-mile-wide path on April 8th, will begin in Texas and end in Maine, nowhere near Wyoming this time around.
That means there won’t be a repeat of 2017, when a crazy rush of people clogged up the highways and byways of Wyoming.
However, there will be a partial eclipse, according to Wyoming Stargazing’s Sam Singer. He tells Cowboy State Daily that anywhere between 40 and 65% of Wyoming residents will be treated to a sky show. During a partial solar eclipse, the Moon, the Sun and Earth don’t align in a perfectly straight line, and the Moon casts only the outer part of its shadow, the penumbra, on Earth. From our perspective, this looks like the Moon has taken a bite out of the Sun.
In Wyoming, the partial solar eclipse will begin at 11:26 a.m. April 8, and won’t completely disappear until 1:57 p.m. which makes it a slightly longer eclipse than in 2017.
Experts say, be prepared! Even a 95% eclipse can still hurt unshielded eyes. So it’s best to have the right kind of glasses for the big event. Glasses specifically made for an eclipse event or welder’s glass will be best. If neither of those are available, solar watchers can opt for a pinhole projector. It’s made by punching a tiny hole in a piece of paper with a needle, then using the pinhole to project the sun’s image onto the asphalt or pavement below.
Click here to see how to make one.
Wyoming’s next partial eclipse won’t happen until January 2029, according to TimeandDate, a website that tracks eclipses based on where one lives.
