There will be a total solar eclipse on April 8: How long will it last?

On April 8, there will be a total solar eclipse that will be visible from parts of North America. How long a total solar eclipse will last depends on where you view it.

The eclipse on Earth will begin at 16:38 GMT (20:38 Yerevan time) and end at 19:55 GMT (23:55 Yerevan time), that is, it will last a total of 3 hours, 16 minutes and 45 seconds. In North America, it will be visible only from an area 185 km wide.

To see the eclipse, you need to be in the area of the Moon's shadow (185 km wide) on Earth. In addition, it depends not only on where one is along the area, but also on how close one is to its center line. The closer it is to the center line, the longer the total eclipse appears.

According to eclipse mapper Michael Zeiler, there's no need to worry too much about getting as close to that centerline as possible, since 90% of the eclipse can be seen only 60% of the way from the edge of the Moon's shadow to the center.

Earlier, scientists conducted a study and found out that when people visit different places of the country to watch solar eclipses, the number of fatal accidents increases. In particular, during the 2017 eclipse, fatal accidents increased by about 31%. According to the study, this may also be the case during the eclipse on April 8.