The path of the total eclipse of the sun on April 8 slices through northern New England, while Boston will reach 93 percent totality. Map courtesy of NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio

2024 Total Eclipse

Tips to Watch and Photograph the April 8 Total Solar Eclipse Safely

It won’t be total in Boston, but you’ll still need protection—for your eyes and your phone

“Where are 20,000 people going to pee?” 

An antiques dealer in rural Maine voiced his concern to the New York Times in anticipation of visiting swarms for the total solar eclipse April 8. Maine, one of 13 states where the full solar shutdown will be visible, is not the only hot spot planning for the big event. And even though in Boston, it will be more of a partial eclipse, you can still make it memorable, if you’re smart.

Airlines are offering flights along the 115-mile-wide path of totality between Mexico and Canada, where the moon will completely block the sun. (Boston, lying outside that path, will reach 93 percent of totality.) Vermont businesses hope to monetize the sun via the stargazers expected to flock to the state—while many schools will close early so that students can catch the eclipse and stay off congested roads. Even people with vision impairment will be able to experience it, courtesy of a Harvard and Smithsonian–created device that adjusts a musical tone as the sunlight fades. 

Watching the eclipse, whether total or mostly, is easy in theory. “Look up towards the bright light known as the sun,” quips Paul Withers, a professor and chair of astronomy at the College of Arts & Sciences. But you must look with protection. Just as on a regular day, looking directly at the sun with the naked eye, when it won’t be totally lights-out in Boston, is dangerous. 

The one uncontrollable factor is uncooperative weather. “Thick clouds would have a significant negative effect on the experience, just as when hoping to see stars in the night sky,” says Withers. “Fingers crossed for clear skies!”

Total eclipses occur roughly every 18 months, but who can see them in totality varies by location. This one’s path will totally block the sun in parts of 13 states: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Terriers in Boston can catch the event safely by following these tips:

Timing is everything. 

The eclipse will begin to be visible in Boston at 2:16 pm and hit its maximum point at 3:29 pm. 

The only way to look at the eclipse directly and safely is with special protective glasses or viewers.

“Viewing any part of the bright sun through a camera lens, binoculars, or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter secured over the front of the optics will instantly cause severe eye injury,” NASA warns. Do not use sunglasses, as safe solar viewing glasses are thousands of times darker than your Ray-Bans, the space agency says. The only alternative to viewing glasses is “a safe handheld solar viewer.” The American Astronomical Society (AAS) offers a list of suppliers of inexpensive solar glasses suppliers.

You also can use a DIY, indirect projector (especially if you’ve ever made pasta at home).

It’s called “pinhole projection.” According to the AAS, “With the sun behind you, pass sunlight through a small opening (for example, a hole punched in an index card) and project a solar image onto a nearby surface (for example, another card, a wall, or the ground). A pasta colander makes a terrific pinhole projector, as does a straw hat or anything else with a bunch of small holes in it.”

No colander? No problem.

Per the AAS: “Just cross the outstretched, slightly open fingers of one hand over the outstretched, slightly open fingers of the other. (You may find this easiest to do with your palms facing up.) Then, with your back to the sun, look at your hands’ shadow on the ground. The little spaces between your fingers will project a grid of small images on the ground.”

If you want to share the big moment with others…

The Mattapan and Uphams Corner branches of the Boston Public Library will host viewing gatherings. Mattapan’s event runs 2:30 to 4:30 pm and will have “a limited number of eclipse glasses to share”; Uphams’ event is 3 to 4 pm and promises plenty of glasses, plus “eclipse-themed crafts.”

You can also join others on the Chelsea City Hall lawn from 2 to 4 pm. Several mass transit routes can get you there; check the MBTA Trip Planner. If you’re willing to spend a few bucks, $20.24 will get you aboard a ferry from Boston Harbor to Spectacle Island to view the eclipse (the fare is $15 for those over 65 and under 12). Check-in at Long Wharf is 12:30 pm; you’ll be back in Boston by 4:30 pm. Use the Trip Planner for routes to the wharf.

Want to take a photo for your scrapbook?

This how-to on grabbing a shot with your cell phone boils down to a few key points: make sure your phone is charged and its lens is clean; attach or hold a solar filter, necessary for a good shot and for protecting your phone’s sensitive sensor; use a tripod to steady the camera and keep the eclipse in frame; and, again, don’t look directly at the sun with unprotected eyes.

For at least one BU professor, this is more than a visual spectacle. It’s an educational opportunity.

Peter Garik, a clinical associate professor and director of science education at the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, has been negotiating with 20-plus public K-12 schools—most in Boston, some in Providence—to view the eclipse. “We will be providing schools with eclipse glasses,” Garik says. “We will also be asking the teachers and students to record changes in air and surface temperatures, as well as cloud coverage.” The watchers will feed their data through a “citizen scientist” NASA app in which BU participates, he says.

If you miss the eclipse and want to see the next one, go west, young person, go west. 

The next total eclipse visible anywhere in the country, in 2033, will reach totality only in Alaska. Then 11 years later, when another touches the United States, you’ll have to plant yourself in Montana or North Dakota to catch totality.