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File/Enoch Autry/The Clayton Tribune. Dottie Haney of Sky Valley uses her solar viewing glasses to look at the solar eclipse while at Black Rock Mountain State Park on Oct. 11, 2023.
A total solar eclipse will cast a shadow over parts of the United States on Monday, April 8, from Texas to Maine and several states and cities in between.
While Rabun County is not in the path for 100 percent sun cover, locals – wearing the appropriate 3-D safety glasses – should be able to view approximately an 80 percent coverage with peak moment at 3:06 p.m. That will be when only a sliver of the sun will be visible on the edges.
The localized visible coverage should begin at 1:45 p.m. and conclude at 4:20 p.m.
After the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, the next total solar eclipse that can be seen from the contiguous United States will be in 20 years on Aug. 23, 2044.
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth and, for a short time, completely blocks the face of the sun, according to NASA.
The track of the moon’s shadow across Earth’s surface is called the path of totality, and to witness the April 8 total solar eclipse, viewers must be within the 115-mile-wide path.
In the U.S., the path of totality begins in Texas and will travel through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
According to NASA, a few parts of Georgia’s neighboring state Tennessee along with Michigan also will experience the total solar eclipse.
On Oct. 14, 2023, Rabun County had the opportunity to see a partial solar eclipse. While some Americans out West witnessed the “ring of fire” version that day, Georgians got more of a crescent moon-look view of the sun.