What will it be like to experience the total solar eclipse 2024?

体验2024年的日全食会是什么感觉？

Why chase eclipses, especially total eclipses, often referred to as nature's most spectacular events?

为什么要追逐日食，尤其是日全食，通常被称为自然界最壮观的事件？

There are possibly as many answers to that question as there are people who delight in the visual excitement encountered within the shadow of the moon: the eerie light enveloping everything just before the sun is blotted from the sky; the diamond ring seemingly exploding overhead; the solar corona different on each occasion; stars and planets shining at midday; the reactions of flowers, birds and animals within the shadow; the strange glow all around the horizon; people crying, yelling; praying. No other celestial occurrence evokes such intense and varied response. For a brief time, the world of eclipse chasers is totally transformed.

这个问题的答案可能与人们喜欢在月亮阴影中遇到的视觉兴奋一样多：在太阳从天空中被遮住之前，诡异的光线笼罩着一切;钻戒似乎在头顶爆炸;每次的太阳日冕都不同;星星和行星在正午闪耀;阴影中花鸟和动物的反应;地平线周围散发出奇怪的光芒;人们哭泣，大喊大叫;祈祷。没有其他天体事件能引起如此强烈和多样的反应。在很短的时间内，日食追逐者的世界完全改变了。

A total eclipse of the sun is without a doubt, the greatest cosmic pageant that can be witnessed. The sight of the sun in totality during the 2024 total solar eclipse on April 8 may last 4 minutes 28 seconds in parts of Mexico and will average just over four minutes in its sweep across the southern and eastern United States.

毫无疑问，日全食是可以目睹的最伟大的宇宙盛会。在4月8日的2024年日全食期间，在墨西哥部分地区可以看到太阳的全部时间，在墨西哥部分地区可能会持续4分28秒，而在美国南部和东部的日全食中，太阳的平均持续时间将超过4分钟。

Related: Total solar eclipse live blog

相关报道：日全食直播博客

The moon will cross the sun's disk from the southwest and the "wall of darkness" associated with the moon's dark umbral shadow will rush from the Pacific coast of Mexico to the Atlantic coast of Canada at an average speed of 2,110 miles (3,400 km) per hour.

月球将从西南方向穿过太阳的圆盘，与月球黑暗本影相关的“黑暗之墙”将以每小时2,110英里（3,400公里）的平均速度从墨西哥的太平洋沿岸冲向加拿大的大西洋沿岸。

The daytime darkness will devour portions of 15 states: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Only those inside the path of totality will have a chance to enjoy the brilliant show in the sky. The tiniest dot or thread of sunlight will spoil it all. The delicate pearl-tinted halo known as the corona and the blood-red feathery markings called the prominences are visible only to those who see the total eclipse. The sun is 398,000 times brighter than a full moon, so the least trace of sunlight ends the spectacle.

白天的黑暗将吞噬15个州的部分地区：德克萨斯州、俄克拉荷马州、阿肯色州、田纳西州、密苏里州、肯塔基州、伊利诺伊州、印第安纳州、俄亥俄州、密歇根州、宾夕法尼亚州、纽约州、佛蒙特州、新罕布什尔州和缅因州。只有那些在整体路径内的人才有机会欣赏天空中的精彩表演。最微小的阳光点或丝线都会破坏这一切。被称为日冕的精致珍珠色光晕和被称为突起的血红色羽毛斑纹只有那些看到日全食的人才能看到。太阳的亮度是满月的 398,000 倍，因此最少的阳光就结束了这一奇观。

The sky will be greatly darkened for those just outside the totality path (such as St. Louis and Cincinnati), but the brilliant cosmic performance will not be visible to them. There are an estimated 32 million people who live within the path. Countless millions more are expected to journey from all over the world to see the eclipse.

对于那些在整体路径之外的人来说，天空将大大变暗（例如圣路易斯和辛辛那提），但他们将看不到辉煌的宇宙表演。估计有 3200 万人居住在这条小径内。预计还有数以百万计的人将从世界各地赶来观看日食。

About 75 minutes before the total phase, the dark edge of the moon will produce a small scallop in the disk of the sun. Slowly it will glide across the face of the sun, gradually cutting it down to a crescent. Finally, the sun will be a mere curved thread of light boarding the eastern (left) edge of the moon's silhouette.

在总相位前约75分钟，月球的黑暗边缘将在太阳的圆盘中产生一个小扇贝。慢慢地，它会滑过太阳的表面，逐渐将其切割成新月形。最后，太阳将只是一条弯曲的光线，登上月球轮廓的东部（左）边缘。

During this period, while the moon is gradually erasing the sun, there will be a strong temptation to gaze steadily at the spectacle.

在此期间，当月亮逐渐抹去太阳时，会有强烈的诱惑，要稳定地凝视这一奇观。

This should not be done.

这是不应该做的。

You should bring a fresh vision to the series of rare and wonderful sights that begin to take place as the waning crescent ultimately disintegrates into irregular dots and points of light. Twenty minutes before totality, to enhance the darkening effect, wear a patch over one of your eyes and remove it as totality sets in.

当渐弱的新月最终分解成不规则的点和光点时，你应该为一系列罕见而奇妙的景象带来新鲜的视野。在日全食前20分钟，为了增强暗化效果，在你的一只眼睛上戴上眼罩，并在日全食开始时摘下它。

The table below, provides local circumstances for 15 cities that are within the path of totality. Column 4 gives the time of start of totality to the nearest second; Column 5 provides the duration of totality in minutes and seconds. So, (as an example), in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, totality begins at 1:58:18 p.m. Central Daylight Time and with a duration of 4 minutes 06 seconds, the sun will not begin to reemerge until 2:02:24 p.m.

下表提供了全食路径内15个城市的当地情况。列4给出日全食开始的时间，精确到秒;第5列以分钟和秒为单位提供日全食的持续时间。所以，(举个例子)在密苏里州的吉拉多角，全食开始于下午1:58:18。中央夏令时，持续时间为4分06秒，太阳直到下午2:02:24才开始重新出现。

By the time about 80-percent of the sun is covered, the sky illumination will appear rather peculiar. Also, the shadows are becoming sharper as the sun . . . now reduced to a thick crescent shape . . . continues to get thinner and thinner. As totality draws nearer and the sky grows still darker, you might begin to feel a little nervous, for here is a situation that neither you nor any of the people who might be around you have any control over. Only now can you begin to understand why eclipses both fascinated and terrified ancient people. The final few minutes before totality are always filled with indescribable excitement.

当大约80%的太阳被遮住时，天空的光照将显得相当奇特。而且，随着太阳的升起，阴影也越来越清晰…现在减少到一个厚厚的新月形…继续变得越来越薄。随着日全食越来越近，天空越来越暗，你可能会开始感到有点紧张，因为这是一个你和你周围的任何人都无法控制的情况。只有到现在你才能开始明白为什么日食既让古人着迷又让他们恐惧。全食前的最后几分钟总是充满了难以形容的兴奋。

As the crescent fades to a thin filament of light, it will not go out like a snuffed candle, but will break up into what are known as "Baily's Beads." This is due to the fact that the moon's disk is very rugged and mountainous. As an analogy, its profile is something like the circumference of a circular saw. That rugged edge will cause the remaining hairline crescent to break up into beads of light; the remaining sunlight streaming through the mountains and valleys of the moon.

当新月逐渐变成细细的光丝时，它不会像熄灭的蜡烛那样熄灭，而是会分裂成所谓的“贝利珠”。这是因为月球的表面非常崎岖不平，多山。打个比方，它的轮廓有点像圆锯的周长。那粗糙的边缘会使剩下的发际线新月分解成光珠;剩余的阳光穿过月球的山脉和山谷。

The beads got their name from the minute and vivid description of them which was written by Francis Baily after he observed them in the eclipse of May 15, 1836. He was not the first to record them however. Observations of the beads from different locations along the totality path have made it possible for astronomers to turn out accurate maps of a slice of the moon's surface and to survey mountains and valleys which on this occasion, are some 223,000 miles (359,000 km) away.

1836年5月15日，弗朗西斯·贝利在日食中观察到这些珠子，并写下了对它们的详细而生动的描述，因此得名。然而，他并不是第一个记录它们的人。从月全食路径上的不同位置对这些珠子进行观察，使天文学家能够绘制出月球表面的精确地图，并对这次大约223,000英里(359,000公里)外的山脉和山谷进行调查。

Just before the beads come into sight, the "shadow band" effect begins to take shape. Instead of a regular deepening of shadows, black and white lines begin to stripe the Earth. These bands are — generally speaking — about 1 or 2 inches wide, with intervening bright stripes about 3 inches wide. Sometimes they move sedately. Sometimes they flicker. Sometimes they rush by.

就在珠子进入视线之前，“影带”效应开始形成。黑色和白色的线条开始在地球上形成条纹，而不是常规的阴影加深。这些条纹-一般来说-大约1或2英寸宽，中间有大约3英寸宽的明亮条纹。有时它们会安静地移动。有时它们会闪烁。有时他们匆匆而过。

Though countless observations of them have been made over the years, to this day nobody knows exactly what causes the bands. The usual belief is that the exceedingly thin stream of sunlight that passes the moon just before and just after the total eclipse is distorted by our turbulent atmosphere, just as the light of the stars is disturbed making them appear to twinkle.

尽管多年来对它们进行了无数次观察，但直到今天，还没有人确切地知道是什么导致了这些波段。人们通常认为，在月全食前后经过月球的极微弱的阳光被湍流的大气层扭曲了，就像星星的光被干扰而闪烁一样。

Just moments before totality, the beads coalesce into one spot of sunlight and an explosion of light brightens the region around the eclipse. A thin ring of light — the inner corona — begins to encircle the darkened sun; this final bit of sunlight produces a shaft of light piercing the sky and resembling the glow of a brilliant diamond. Together with the thin ring surrounding the darkened sun, the eclipse appears to create a magnificent diamond ring hovering for a moment around the eclipse. Accompanying gasps, shouts, screams . . . you may even be shouting too . . . all attest to the tremendous impact this diamond ring effect has on observers.

就在日全食发生的前一刻，这些珠子聚集成一个光点，一束光照亮了日食周围的区域。一层薄薄的光圈——内日冕——开始围绕着变暗的太阳;这最后一点阳光产生了一束穿透天空的光，就像一颗璀璨的钻石发出的光芒。与围绕着变暗的太阳的薄环一起，日食似乎创造了一个宏伟的钻戒，在日食周围盘旋了一会儿。伴随着喘息，呼喊，尖叫…你甚至可能也在大喊大叫…这些都证明了钻戒效应对观测者的巨大影响。

Now it is safe for you to look directly up at the sun!

现在你可以安全地直视太阳了!

Then, the dark lunar shadow which belongs to the total eclipse will rush in. Those who are on the lookout for its approach should concentrate on the west-southwest sky, a few minutes before totality, watching the horizon darken dramatically as if a severe thunderstorm was brewing. In the final seconds before totality, you might notice quick color changes of slate, violet, amber and deep red just out ahead of the advancing shadow. The rather clammy light of the remaining thread of sun will seem to rush out in a deathly silence as if suddenly immersed in a vacuum. The moment that the shadow's leading edge passes overhead, totality begins.

然后，属于月全食的黑暗的月影就会冲进来。在日全食前几分钟，那些关注日全食的人应该把注意力集中在西南偏西的天空，看着地平线急剧变暗，就好像一场严重的雷暴正在酝酿。在日全食前的最后几秒钟，你可能会注意到，在日全食的阴影到来之前，石板色、紫色、琥珀色和深红色迅速发生了变化。太阳剩下的那一缕湿冷的光似乎会在死一般的寂静中冲出，仿佛突然陷入真空中。当阴影的前缘经过头顶时，日全食就开始了。

All around the black eclipsed sun, a bright halo suddenly appears: the corona.

在黑色的日食太阳周围，突然出现了一个明亮的光环:日冕。

Pearly white and as bright as a full moon it extends outward from the eclipsed sun three to five times the diameter of the sun (3 to 5 million miles/5 to 8 million km!). Its first sight is a climax to the tremendous drama that has been building during the previous 10 minutes. The corona is always present surrounding the sun, but the brilliance of the sun normally overpowers it, rendering it invisible except during total solar eclipses, or when viewed through a special telescope called a coronagraph which blocks out the brilliant sun. The corona is brightest as it emerges from the sun, gradually becoming dimmer farther away from the sun. The outer edge of the corona is ragged. Thin dark lines extend outward from the sun into the corona. They tend to be most numerous about the poles of the sun and are sometimes referred to as "polar brushes."

珍珠般的白色，像满月一样明亮，它从日食的太阳向外延伸，是太阳直径的3到5倍(300到500万英里/ 500到800万公里!)它的第一眼就把之前10分钟里一直在上演的戏剧性场面推向了高潮。日冕总是围绕在太阳周围，但太阳的光芒通常会盖过它，除非在日全食期间，或者通过一种叫做日冕仪的特殊望远镜观察时，日冕会挡住太阳的光芒，所以日冕是看不见的。日冕从太阳出来时最亮，离太阳越远越暗。日冕的外缘是粗糙的。细细的暗线从太阳向外延伸到日冕。它们往往在太阳的两极附近数量最多，有时被称为“极地刷子”。

Here is the climax of the phenomenon: The most impressive and brilliant spectacle in nature, surpassing the sight of any great comet or any northern lights display.

这是这一现象的高潮:自然界中最令人印象深刻、最辉煌的奇观，超过了任何大彗星或北极光的景象。

After witnessing his first total eclipse in 1925, Dutch-American astronomer Willem Jacob Luyten wrote:

在1925年第一次目睹日全食后，荷兰裔美国天文学家威廉·雅各布·卢顿（Willem Jacob Luyten）写道:

"No language will ever be adequate to describe its divine beauty; if you have seen it, the magnificence of the corona will forever stay in your memory with ineffaceable accuracy as the most overwhelming spectacle that nature affords."

“没有任何语言足以描述它的神圣之美;如果您看到过日冕的壮观景象，那么它就会永远准确地留在您的记忆中，成为自然界最壮观的景象。”

At this moment you might ask yourself if this is really happening, or is it a dream? Of course, it is all real, but still hard to believe. Interestingly enough, after the initial screaming and shouting, most people quickly calm down and settle into a sort of quiet happiness as they scan the weird scene and try to enjoy as many of the fantastically strange sights as possible during the all-too-short interval of total eclipse.

此时此刻，你可能会问自己，这是真的发生了，还是只是一场梦?当然，这一切都是真的，但仍然难以置信。有趣的是，在最初的尖叫和叫喊之后，大多数人很快就平静下来，沉浸在一种安静的幸福中，他们看着这奇怪的场景，试图在日全食的短暂间隔中尽可能多地欣赏这些奇异的景象。

Just as one begins to recover from the impact of the sudden appearance of the corona, rubies seem to hover around the black disk of the moon. These are solar prominences. Sometimes only one, and at other times as many as five or six can be observed penetrating a few thousand miles into the corona. These are tongues of incandescent hydrogen gas rising above the surface of the sun far enough to be visible beyond and above the eclipsing moon. You'll get a very good view of them using binoculars or better still, a telescope, for like the corona you see them directly without the use of filters or viewing screens during totality.

就在人们开始从日冕突然出现的影响中恢复过来的时候，红宝石似乎在月亮的黑色圆盘周围盘旋。这些是太阳日珥。有时只有一个，有时可以观察到多达五到六个穿透几千英里的日冕。这些是炽热的氢气舌，从太阳表面上升到足够远的地方，可以在月食的月亮上方看到。你可以用双筒望远镜或者更好的是望远镜，因为像日冕一样，你可以直接看到它们，而不需要使用滤镜或观看屏幕。

The size and number of the prominences and the area and brightness of the corona will depend on conditions of the sun's "surface" — the photosphere. The corona is electrically charged matter rushing outward from the sun at a few million miles an hour. The number and distribution of sunspots on the photosphere affect the shape of the corona. They are products of the variable magnetic activity on the solar surface. When there are many spots stirring up on the sun, the corona is larger and brighter and prominences are also more numerous. NOAA now expects the peak of solar activity will take place anytime between now and October 2024. So, on April 8, the corona may appear globular, very bright and quite imposing, with several notable streamers protruding out in different directions, perhaps also accompanied by a few prominences of note.

日珥的大小和数量以及日冕的面积和亮度将取决于太阳“表面”——光球层的状况。日冕是一种带电物质，以每小时几百万英里的速度从太阳向外冲去。太阳黑子在光球上的数量和分布影响着日冕的形状。它们是太阳表面多变的磁活动的产物。当太阳上有许多黑子出现时，日冕更大更亮，日珥也更多。美国国家海洋和大气管理局现在预计，太阳活动的高峰将在现在到2024年10月之间的任何时候出现。因此，在4月8日，日冕可能会呈现球状，非常明亮，非常壮观，有几条显著的流光从不同的方向突出，也许还伴随着一些值得注意的日珥。

The light from the corona, combined with the light that filters through the uneclipsed parts of the sky (such as just outside the moon's dark shadow), will make illumination of the sky during totality similar to about a half hour after sunset or before sunrise. It will be a strange, unearthly illumination, unlike any dusk or dawn you have ever experienced.

日冕发出的光，再加上穿过天空中未被遮挡的部分(比如月亮的黑影外)的光，将使日全食期间的天空照明类似于日落后半小时或日出前。这将是一种奇异的、超凡脱俗的光亮，与你所经历过的任何黄昏或黎明都不一样。

As totality begins, some of the brightest stars and planets will appear. Practically exploding into view about 15 degrees to the lower right of the sun (your clenched fist held at arm's length measures 10 degrees) will be the brilliant planet Venus — the third brightest object in the sky; it likely will already be evident some minutes before totality. About 30 degrees to the upper left of the sun will shine the second brightest planet, Jupiter. These two planets will most likely be the two most notable objects other than the eclipsed sun itself.

随着日全食的开始，一些最亮的恒星和行星将会出现。实际上，在太阳右下方15度的地方(你握紧的拳头在一臂的距离上是10度)会出现明亮的金星——天空中第三亮的物体;它可能在全食前几分钟就已经很明显了。在太阳左上角约30度的地方，第二亮的行星是木星。这两颗行星很可能是除了日食的太阳之外最引人注目的两个天体。

Meanwhile, well up in the east-northeast sky will be the bright star Capella. Lower toward the east-southeast will glow Betelgeuse and Rigel, while nearer to the horizon will be Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, possibly visible along the eclipse track starting from Arkansas and all points northeast. A few fainter stars might appear here and there, but the combined light of the corona and the glow surrounding the horizon will quench the rest of the stars. The combination of darkness and starlight at midday always helps to create a lasting memory of a total eclipse.

同时，在东北偏东的天空中会出现一颗明亮的卡佩拉星。在东南偏东的低处，参宿四和参宿七将发光，而靠近地平线的地方将是天狼星，天空中最亮的恒星，可能沿着从阿肯色州开始的日食轨迹和东北方向的所有点都能看到。一些较暗的恒星可能会出现在这里和那里，但是日冕和地平线周围的辉光的结合将会熄灭其余的恒星。正午时分的黑暗和星光的结合总是有助于创造一个持久的日全食记忆。

Veteran observers who view with optical aid should be alert for the return of the sun. Generally, the appearance of a ruby-red arc of light along the moon's dark edge — the solar chromosphere — portends the blinding photosphere by several seconds; consider this as the "red-flag" that the end of totality is near at hand. Heed the warning and look away without delay. Totality's end will be signaled by the appearance on the sun's western rim (where the first "bite" appeared a bit more than an hour before) of a brilliant solitaire of light, again set on the thin, luminous ring of the inner corona. The streamers of light instantly vanish; the gem grows brighter; the stars and planets fade away. The return of this "Diamond Ring" in the sky, quickly becomes too dazzling to look at.

用光学辅助观察的资深观测者应该警惕太阳的回归。一般来说，沿着月球黑暗边缘出现的红宝石红色弧线——太阳色球层——预示着令人眩目的光球层会在几秒钟后出现;可以把这看作是日全食即将结束的“危险信号”。注意警告，不要拖延。日全食结束的标志是，太阳的西边缘出现了一束明亮的光(在一个多小时前，第一次“咬”在那里出现)，同样是在薄薄的、明亮的内日冕环上。光带瞬间消失;宝石越来越明亮;恒星和行星逐渐消失。这枚“钻戒”在天空中的回归，很快就变得太耀眼了。

Totality is over, but it ends in magnificent fashion!

日全食结束了，但它是以华丽的方式结束的!

More than 99 percent of the sun is still covered, and yet compared to what it was like only moments ago, it seems like almost full daylight has returned. Now you can understand why we have been urging you to get into the path of totality, for even with this tiniest bit of the sun left uncovered, you would miss so much!

超过99%的太阳仍然被覆盖着，但与几分钟前的情况相比，似乎几乎完全的日光已经回来了。现在你可以理解为什么我们一直在敦促你进入日全食的道路，因为即使是这最小的一点太阳，你会错过这么多!

The temperature may have dipped several degrees or more, and all of the phenomena seen prior to totality now appear again — in reverse order — as the moon glides away from the sun's disk. These things can be looked at afterward just as well as beforehand, and as there is nothing that requires the eye to be very sensitive after the eclipse is over, it is best to look at them then.

温度可能已经下降了几度或更多，在全食之前看到的所有现象现在都再次出现——以相反的顺序——因为月球远离了太阳的圆盘。这些东西可以在日食结束后观看，就像在日食之前一样，因为没有什么东西需要眼睛非常敏感，所以最好在日食结束后观看。

Anyone who has experienced a total solar eclipse, no doubt has observed that within the moon's shadow, the sky grows rapidly darker, birds sing evening songs and go to roost, flowers may close, the air cools, and the landscape takes on a strange saffron coloring. And after the initial whoops and hollers of spectators witnessing this incredible celestial drama, most fall silent. All of these things are major parts of the eclipse mystique, and people travel around the world to experience it. It becomes obvious that totality affects all living creatures. All stare skyward, exempt from all worldly problems for those brief but glorious moments of totality.

任何经历过日全食的人毫无疑问都观察到，在月亮的阴影下，天空迅速变暗，鸟儿唱着晚歌并去栖息，花朵可能会关闭，空气变冷，景观呈现出一种奇怪的藏红花色。观众们目睹了这一令人难以置信的天体奇观，在最初的欢呼和叫喊之后，大多数人都沉默了。所有这些都是日食神秘的主要部分，人们环游世界去体验它。很明显，全食影响着所有的生物。所有的人都凝视着天空，在那短暂而辉煌的全食时刻，免除了所有世俗的问题。

To them, a total solar eclipse is awesome, mysterious, an event never to be forgotten!

对他们来说，日全食是令人敬畏的，神秘的，一个永远不会忘记的事件!

How sad it is that at past eclipses some people have actually covered their eyes or looked away from the sun during totality . . . even running into their homes to hide. By doing so, they missed out on what truly is the greatest show on Earth!

在过去的日食中，有些人甚至在日全食时遮住眼睛或不看太阳，这是多么可悲啊……甚至跑到家里躲起来。这样做，他们错过了地球上真正最伟大的表演!

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmers' Almanac and other publications.

Joe Rao是纽约海登天文馆的讲师和客座讲师。他为《自然历史》杂志、《农民年鉴》和其他出版物撰写天文学方面的文章。