April’s total solar eclipse is a month away. Here’s why it’s worth the watch and how to stay safe

By MARCIA DUNN
AP Aerospace Writer

A total solar eclipse is coming to North America. On April 8, the sun will pull another disappearing act across parts of Mexico, the United States and Canada, turning day into night for as much as 4 minutes, 28 seconds. That’s twice as long as the total solar eclipse that darkened U.S. skies in 2017. This eclipse will take a different and more populated route, entering over Mexico’s Pacific coast, dashing up through Texas and Oklahoma, crisscrossing the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and New England, before exiting over eastern Canada into the Atlantic. There won’t be another coast-to-coast eclipse in the U.S. until 2045.