New Yorkers have a month to prepare for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see something that is literally out of this world.
A total solar eclipse will be seen across North America on April 8, and the zone of totality — where the moon completely blocks out the light of the sun — can be observed in huge swaths of Upstate New York, from Buffalo to the Finger Lakes to the Adirondack Mountains.
Nearly 4 million New Yorkers live within the 100-mile wide path of totality, and hundreds of thousands more are expected to travel within the state to see the amazing spectacle, according to models by the website Great American Eclipse .
Solar eclipses are only visible about every 18 months worldwide and about once every 400 years from any given location, so now is the time to order solar safety glasses and start making a plan.
The eclipse will be viewable in major cities like Austin, Dallas, Indianapolis and Cleveland before first contact — when the moon starts to take its first nibble out of the sun — becomes visible at 2:04 p.m. in Buffalo.