This path of totality is estimated to be about 100 miles wide and 10,000 miles long. The location in which you can view a total eclipse is extremely restrictive as there is only a narrow path in which totality can be seen. Seeing as the earth is made of 70% water, that only leaves 30% of viable land space to view the eclipse from, and even then, you must be in the right place at the right time to see it. Its currently estimated that total eclipses occur every 18 months but predicting where that can be seen at any point on earth is the challenge. Perhaps one, but no more than two, of those will be total eclipses.

Solar eclipses visible from earth occur with an approximate maximum of five times per year. Other eclipse phenomena that occur includes shadow bands and visibility of the sun’s chromosphere. When the solar corona is seen, it is considered the peak and most dramatic point of a total eclipse. It’s faintly visible, can be over 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit, and extends millions of kilometers into outer space. The solar corona appears as faint rays streaming from the silhouette of the moon but is actually the sun’s outermost layer of its atmosphere. It’s seen around the moon with a single bead of light left appearing as if it is a shining jewel or diamond set in a ring of light. The diamond ring effect is as exactly as you would imagine. The moon has craters, mountains, and rugged terrain that is outlined by the sun during the eclipse and small rays of sunlight shine through in some spots while not in others. Bailey’s Beads are the appearance of beads of sunlight streaming through around the silhouette of the moon during the process a total and annular eclipse.

What are Bailey’s Beads and what is the diamond ring effect? They are two, different eclipse phenomena that are seen pre and post total eclipses.

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