How long is totality for eclipse 2024?

On that afternoon, a total solar eclipse – the first since the Great American Eclipse in 2017 and the last until August 2044 – will arc across the southern half of Indiana from southwest to northeast.

The zone of totality, in which it will become almost completely dark, runs through a number of DNR properties. The eclipse will first be visible in Indiana in the Mount Vernon area, and through the afternoon it will progress across the state through regions that include Linton, Bloomington, Indianapolis, Shelbyville, Muncie, New Castle, Connersville, and Portland. Along the center line of the zone of totality, darkness will last for approximately four minutes, and as you move farther away from the center line of that arc across the state, the timeframe and amount of darkness will drop.

We look forward to providing you with outdoor places to gather to watch the eclipse, great programs in the days before and during the event, and options for lodging so you can be ready and in place to enjoy it.

For more about the science of the eclipse, visit the American Astronomical Society's 2024 Eclipse website.

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will take place. It'll be the last visible one from the U.S. until 2045.

More 31 million people across 13 states — including Illinois — live in "the path of totality" for the event — meaning those places will see 100 percent totality.

According to the website nationaleclipse.com, in Illinois, the state of totality will begin on April 8, 2024 at 1:58 p.m. and end at 2:06 p.m.

This image from nationaleclipse.com outlines the total solar eclipse's path in Illinois.

In southern Illinois near Carbondale, the eclipse will be in the path of totality. That means a total solar eclipse will be visible.

The eclipse path map on timeanddate.com shows that in Chicago, the solar eclipse will only partially visible in Chicago, at 93.9 percent.

You can check to see what the visibility will be in your city, here.

What is a Total Solar Eclipse?

According to the Adler Planetarium, a solar eclipse can only occur at the New Moon Phase, when the arrangement in space is a line between the Sun, Moon, and Earth.

The moon, directly between the sun and Earth, casts a shadow on the planet, darkening the daytime sky. Those in the dark part of the moon’s shadow (the umbra) will experience a total eclipse, while those in the light part (the penumbra) will see a partial eclipse.

What Does "The Path of Totality" Mean?

The period of totality refers to the time during a total eclipse when the moon completely obscures the sun. The period of totality is usually brief, lasting just a few minutes. Astronomy.com says the maximum period of totality for the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse is four minutes and 28 seconds.

The longest period of totality for the 2017 solar eclipse was quite a bit shorter, just about two minutes and 40 seconds, according to NASA.