ERIE, Pa. — Our FOX43 team is headed to Erie, Pennsylvania for the best view of the Great American Eclipse on Monday.
We weren't the only ones!
It turns out many people are traveling into the path of totality for the best view of the 2024 Solar Eclipse.
On our team's journey to Erie, they ran into a few people also heading the same way.
Raymond Fogleman, of Hummelstown, said, "I'm excited to see totality. It's been a long time since I've seen anything like this, so I'm just excited to see it."
In Erie, the eclipse starts at 2:02 P.M. EST and ends at 4:30 P.M. Totality lasts for a several minutes from 3:16 P.M. to 3:20 P.M., with the maximum eclipse right in the middle at 3:18 P.M. Totality is when the moon completely covers the sun's disk.
If you're staying in town like most of us, nearly 90% of the eclipse will be visible for our area. Not too shabby! The viewing times are very similar to Erie as well, so set aside some times for the afternoon if you can.
The last time a solar eclipse was visible in our area was Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. That was an annular eclipse, where the moon appears smaller than the sun. This creates a "ring of fire" effect of the sun around the moon for those in the path of totality. Only 30% of that eclipse was visible to viewers in Central Pa. Clouds and rain put a damper on that one.