On April 8, millions of people across North America will witness day turn to night as the moon blocks light from the sun, but there will be more to the celestial spectacle than many realize.

While most people focus their attention on the sun and moon, people’s surroundings will change during the height of the eclipse, known as totality.

Subtle changes may be seen in areas that experience only a partial solar eclipse, but much more significant changes will occur along the narrow path from Mexico to Canada, where the total solar eclipse is visible.

While everyone’s attention will be focused on the sky, looking down may reveal another scene that not many have experienced.

Spectators looking at the horizon will witness the colors of the sunrise and sunset around them in every direction. This 360-degree sunset effect is caused by sunlight in areas outside the path of totality and lasts only as long as the sun is completely blocked by the moon. As the moon turns day to night, darkness will reveal the stars in the sky, as well as some planets.

People should not waste much time looking for planets and constellations, as these can be seen at night during different parts of the year. However, the eclipse will make it easy to spot Venus and Jupiter, which will be in a similar area of ​​the sky as the sun on April 8.

Some lucky spectators may even be lucky enough to see a streak of meteors across the sky during the brief period of darkness.

One of the rare phenomena to look for during a total solar eclipse is shadow bands.

“Shadow bands are thin, wavy lines of alternating light and dark that can be seen moving and undulating in parallel on plain-colored surfaces immediately before and after a total solar eclipse,” NASA said.

👁️[WPPV-TOTAL-VIEWS]