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Q: So what can I expect to see if I’m in the zone of total eclipse?
A: It starts quietly, about 80 minutes before the total phase, with first contact: a small dent appears on the Sun’s right hand limb, growing slowly larger each minute.
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Eclipse Timeline
The Moon will continue to advance steadily, reducing the disc of the sun down to a crescent. In those last few minutes before totality, events pile in on each other: an eerie twilight begins to descend, the distant landscape becomes enveloped in a strange grayish pallor; the air temperature may suddenly dip several degrees or more. As totality draws nearer and the sky grows still darker, you might even begin to feel a little nervous, for here is a situation that neither you nor any of the people who might be around you has any control over. Only now can you begin to understand why eclipses both fascinated and terrified ancient people.
If you spread out a large white sheet on the ground, you may see shadow bands rippling, flickering, and scurrying about. These stripes of light and shade are believed to be caused by the last of the sun’s rays being distorted by our turbulent atmosphere, just as a star’s light is disturbed making it appear to twinkle. As the sun narrows to a thin filament, it suddenly disintegrates into irregular dots and points of light called “Baily’s Beads,” an effect caused by the last rays of sunlight streaming through the rugged mountain valleys on the lunar limb.
Then the Moon’s dark shadow then comes rushing in. Those watching for its approach should look to the west-northwest sky, where clouds will darken dramatically as if some great storm were brewing. At totality’s onset, the shadow suddenly engulfs you with the darkness of a sky similar to about a half hour after sunset. You’ll likely be hearing oohs and ahhs, gasps, shouts and screams from people all around you (you may even be shouting too!) as the Moon completely covers the Sun.
The Sun appears as a jet-black disc rimmed for several seconds by the vivid pastel-pink extension of the Sun’s atmospheric envelope: the chromosphere. If you use binoculars, you may see in several places around the black disc, tiny flames of pink or magenta. Called prominences, these are hot clouds of hydrogen gas pushing up from the sun’s surface for tens or even hundreds of thousands of miles into space.
The most spectacular view, however, is the pearly-white corona, which haloes the dark disc of the Sun and extends out into space for millions of miles. It can only be seen during totality and differs in size, tints, and patterns from one eclipse to another. Streaming outward, ragged at the edge, streaks running through it; sometimes it has a soft continuous look and at other times long rays may be seen shooting out in three or four directions.

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| Total Solar Eclipse. Photo courtesy of NASA https://cdn.farmersalmanac.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/totaleclipseNASA.jpg |
Once you are able to tear yourself away from the Sun, other celestial objects can be sighted. The most obvious will be the brilliant planet Venus shining like a dazzling white jewel and which will be positioned well to the right of the Sun. And at an even greater distance to the Sun’s left, though not shining quite as bright, will be Jupiter. A few stars may be visible here and there, and if you have binoculars, you might notice a bluish one that will be plainly visible just to the left of the darkened Sun. That will be Regulus, in the constellation Leo and one of the 21 brightest stars in the sky. The combination of darkness and starlight at midday always helps to create a lasting memory of a total eclipse.
As for the overall sky illumination, it will be unlike any dusk or dawn you’ve ever experienced. A weird saffron tint will form a bright border around the horizon, while clouds in the area may take on striking hues of sienna or salmon.
Just before the end of totality, the chromosphere will again reappear, followed suddenly by a brilliant solitaire of steely-white light set upon a thin, luminous ring – the inner corona. The streamers vanish; the gem grows; the stars and planets fade away; the sky fills with light as the great “diamond ring” in the sky soon becomes too dazzling to look at.
All the phenomena seen prior to totality now reappear in reverse order as the Moon moves off the Sun’s disc. But . . . be careful! Whenever an eclipse of the Sun is due to occur there are usually dire warnings broadcast over the airwaves and in newspapers telling people that there is no safe way to view an eclipse and the best thing to do is watch it on television. Television, however, is a poor substitute for the real thing and should you choose to ignore the eclipse entirely, you’ll only be cheating yourself out of seeing the grandest celestial spectacle visible from Earth.
This is not to say, however, that you should not take precautions. Staring at the Sun with unprotected eyes or inadequate filters during the partial stages can cause severe retinal damage or blindness. See
recommended procedures for safely viewing the eclipse.
