Solar eclipses occur when the Moon gets between the Earth and the Sun,
allowing the Moon's long shadow to intersect the Earth.
This is the April 8th, 2024 total solar eclipse.
The central part of the shadow, called the Umbra
sweeps across the surface at more than 1500 miles an hour.
It would move even faster if the Earth weren't also rotating in the
same direction.
The path of the umbra is known as the path of totality.
People in that path see the Moon completely block the Sun
turning the day into night and revealing the Sun's
outer atmosphere, the corona.
The umbra is over land for just an hour and forty minutes
before moving into the North Atlantic and then skipping off the edge of the Earth.