Break out those solar eclipse glasses, you'll need them in Nashville in 2024

I hope you kept those solar eclipse glasses. They'll come in handy next year.

A total solar eclipse is coming to North American on Monday, April 8, 2024. But if you want to see it in totality, you'll have to travel out of state this time. Tennessee is not among the lucky few states in the direct path for totality.

Good news: If you live in the northwest corner of Tennessee, you're in luck.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon is sandwiched between the sun and Earth. Within the path of totality, the sky will become dark and the sun's corona is visible.

The eclipse will begin over the South Pacific Ocean, pass over Mexico, into the United States, and finally into Canada, according to NASA.

Here's what we know about the eclipse.

The path of the eclipse

Once the eclipse crosses into the U.S., it'll pass over Texas and continue northeast through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

The event is estimated to begin April 8, 2024. Dallas should experience the eclipse starting at about 12:23 p.m. CDT. The eclipse should end in Caribou, Maine, at 3:40 p.m. EDT before moving into Canada.

From Tennessee: Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and Paducah, Kentucky, are the closest points of totality within a two-hour drive.

Can I still see the eclipse from Tennessee?

Even though Tennessee residents won't see the total eclipse, they will still be able to experience a partial version.

The moon will cover most, but not all of the sun, which will appear to have a crescent shape, similar to phases of the moon.

In Nashville, the sun will be about 95% obscured, according to NASA's eclipse map. The partial eclipse will last 70-80 minutes.

Do I need special glasses to view the eclipse?

Whether you're viewing the eclipse partially or in totality, you will need those fancy glasses.

Eclipse glasses, which are not the same as regular sunglasses, filter out harmful ultraviolet and infared light from the sun.

If you're lucky enough to witness the eclipse in totality, you can take the glasses off when the moon is completely blocking the sun. Any other time, NASA recommends, the glasses need to remain on.

An eclipse can also be viewed through telescopes, binoculars and cameras with solar filters and with pinhole or other projection methods.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What to know about the 2024 solar eclipse in Tennessee