April 8 solar eclipse totality will last for minutes, not cause 'days of darkness' | Fact check
The claim: April 8 solar eclipse will cause 3-5 days of darkness
A March 18 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a TikTok video that opens with footage of a total solar eclipse. Text superimposed on the video reads, “3 to 5 days of darkness” and “April 8, 2024” – the date of the 2024 eclipse.
"Three days of darkness will occur," says a narrator, who later states, "There will be no sunlight nor moonlight on the Earth's surface."
It was shared more than 30,000 times in two weeks. A similar version received thousands of likes on Instagram, and the original TikTok video was shared thousands of times.
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Our rating: False
The claim is nonsense. The entire planet will not go dark for days. Only those located in the narrow path of totality will experience any significant darkness, and experts said that will last for only about four minutes.
‘Nothing in this video is even adjacent to reality,' says expert
The claim in the TikTok video is baseless, experts said, because it conflicts with centuries of scientific and astronomical research that led to a clear understanding of the predictable movements of Earth, the moon and other celestial bodies.
“Nothing in this video is even adjacent to reality,” said Katie Mack, a theoretical astrophysicist, author and chair of cosmology and science communication at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
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An eclipse occurs when the moon moves between Earth and the sun and casts a shadow on the planet. Their precise timing, location and length are determined by the calculations of the speeds, positions and movements of the sun, moon and Earth in three-dimensional space, according to NASA. Hundreds of years ago, scientists discovered that eclipses occur in predictable patterns known as the Saros Cycle, and improvements in computing and technology have fine-tuned predictive models to the accuracy of less than a minute over the span of hundreds of years, explains NASA on its website.
While the April 8 eclipse will affect some places located in a narrow geographic area of North America for minutes at a time, experts are certain it will not leave the entire planet shrouded in darkness for days.
“The eclipse happens at different times for everyone,” said Dan McGlaun, an expert who has observed and documented 15 eclipses and publishes the website Eclipse2024.org. “Just like someone walking in front of the TV blocks it momentarily for you, but not for the person on the couch next to you.”
A succession of cities in the narrow path of totality – a 115-mile-wide swath stretching from Mexico across the U.S. and into Canada – will experience a few minutes of darkness during the day when the moon completely blocks the sun. The moon travels at a speed of just over 2,000 miles each hour, McGlaun said, which means only about four minutes of totality for most places in that belt.
“No way (the moon) will stop, so there’s only so long that it can block the sun,” he said.
North American and Central American locations outside that path will experience a few hours of a partial solar eclipse that will not be accompanied by any significant darkness. Outdoors will “be no darker than on a bright overcast day” with shadows appearing sharper and crisper, according to Space.com.
The video gets a few other things wrong. At one point it states that light from the sun or stars will be unable to reach Earth for “72 hours or five days,” but 72 hours works out to three days, not five. Mack called its reference to a photon belt in space a “made-up concept” and said its claim that photons – the fundamental particles of light – will somehow block light from reaching Earth “a wild misunderstanding.”
“It’s just total nonsense,” Mack said.
USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook and Instagram users who shared the post but did not immediately receive responses. The TikTok user who shared the video could not be reached.
Our fact-check sources:
Katie Mack, April 3, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Dan McGlaun, April 2, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Detroit Free Press, March 23, Math, science, history and observation: How we know when, where eclipses will occur
NASA, accessed April 3, 2024 Total Eclipse: Where & When
NASA, accessed April 3, Eclipses: Frequently Asked Questions
NASA, accessed April 3, Fun Facts About The Moon
Space.com, April 2, Total solar eclipse April 8, 2024: What you'll see if you're outside the path of totality
California Institute of Technology, accessed April 3, How fast does the Moon travel around the Earth?
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, April 8 eclipse will not cause days of darkness | Fact check