PATH OF TOTALITY–Let’s pick up where we left off last week.

The April 8, 2024, eclipse was a moment in–or perhaps out of–the sun for Chautauqua County, for Western New York, and for all of those throughout North America in the path of totality.

It was fun, because it was a solar eclipse, it was a total solar eclipse, and it was a total solar eclipse here.

Chautauqua County last had a total solar eclipse on June 16, 1806, or 218 years ago when Thomas Jefferson was president of the United States.

Chautauqua County’s next total solar eclipse is on Oct. 26, 2144, or 120½ years from now.

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To be sure, clouds present throughout the day blocked some of the eclipse, yet every phase of the eclipse was visible in Chautauqua County.

The entire event ran from about 2 p.m. until about 4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, with the period of totality lasting for about three minutes between 3:15 p.m. and 3:20 p.m. EDT.

Many had previously seen a partial solar eclipse yet not a total solar eclipse.

The event started out looking like a partial solar eclipse, because that’s what it was then.

As the moon began moving between the Earth and the sun, the sun began to look like the moon when it’s visible yet not full.

The change in the level of sunlight from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. was so gradual that unless one was paying close attention, it wasn’t all that noticeable.

About 3 p.m. it started to get dark somewhat like it gets dark at dusk. Slowly.

As it did, the temperature began to drop, a breeze picked up, the street lights came on, and birds began to sing as they do as the sun is setting.

Which to birds it was.

In this part of the world, birds rarely begin to sing at 3 p.m.

The sun was becoming but a sliver in the sky.

What was odd was that the sun was still fairly high in the sky. It was as though someone were slowly turning down the dimmer switch on the sun.

Soon it became almost as dark as when the sun has set but isn’t so far below the horizon that sunlight is gone completely.

Think of what the full Western horizon looks like on the Fourth of July about 9:45 p.m.

For the last moments before totality, a single beam of light shone from a single point on the sun’s circumference.

Then for about three minutes, little sunlight remained.

Instead of the usual bright circle in the sky, all that remained was a black circle with a ring of light around it.

It was almost night.

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You might have thought that after those three minutes, the whole process that had begun at 2 p.m. would slowly reverse itself.

A single beam of light would shine from a single point on the sun’s circumference.

The sun would return as a sliver in the sky.

Birds would begin to sing as they do as the sun is rising.

Which to birds it was.

The temperature would begin to rise, and the breeze would diminish.

It would start to get light somewhat like it gets light at dawn. Slowly.

And eventually the change in the level of sunlight until 4:30 p.m. would be so gradual that unless one was paying close attention, it wouldn’t be all that noticeable.

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To be sure, many of those things happened.

The single beam of light.

The sun as a sliver in the sky.

The birds beginning to sing, though not as loudly as before totality. They must have wondered why the sun was rising when it had just set.

The temperature beginning to rise, and the breeze diminishing.

The surprise, though, was how quickly the sky lit up right after totality. It was as though someone were quickly turning up the dimmer switch on the sun.

It didn’t take a handful of minutes. It took but a handful of seconds. In that time, the sky lit up and the clouds became white.

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This weekend, don’t be surprised if some clergy members see the Easter message in the eclipse.

Randy Elf urges Chautauqua County residents of Oct. 26, 2144, to take in the next total solar eclipse in the county.

(c) 2024 BY RANDY ELF