By RYAN MORSE
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
The United States will be lucky enough to witness its second total solar eclipse in the last decade come April 8.
Many across the country witnessed the spectacular August 2017 total eclipse, which was the first of the 21st century in the U.S.
That raises the question: how will totality be different with our upcoming eclipse?
For one, the length of totality will be different. Brian Murphy, a professor of physics and astronomy at Butler University, says that the April solar eclipse will be almost two minutes longer than 2017.
“So, it is nice we will have over three minutes (in 2024) for most people in the path of totality,” Murphy said.
Of course, in Indianapolis, the 2017 eclipse was only partial.
On April 8, 2024, totality will last 3 minutes and 36 seconds in Indianapolis beginning at 3:06 p.m. During totality, the planets and stars visible with clear skies will be different than the 2017 eclipse. Jupiter and Venus will be the most notable planets seen in the 2024 eclipse.
The path of the eclipse will also be much different than in 2017.
The Aug. 21, 2017, path of totality started in Oregon and finished in South Carolina.
April 8, 2024, will have the eclipse go through Texas into Indiana and then northern parts of the Northeast.
Crazy enough, locations in southern Illinois will once again be in the path of totality.
“There will be a few changes,” Murphy said. “The 2017 eclipse, we weren’t quite near solar maximum, where we have maximum activity of the sun. Here, we will be right near solar maximum. So, there may be intricate details in the corona of the sun.”
Butler University will host a free eclipse festival from noon to 4:30 p.m. April 8. More than a dozen telescopes will all be equipped with solar filters for safe observation at the event.