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Image by Westwood Minute. According to NASA's Eclipse Explorer, Westwood will experience about a 92.2% coverage of the sun on April 8, 2024, the date of what will be a total solar eclipse in other parts of the country.
4-07-2024 8:40pm
When to See the Maximum Total Solar Eclipse in the Westwood Area
Darlene Cancell
Editor
While the Westwood, Massachusetts area will not be in the path of totality for the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, 2024, according to NASA, area residents will experience 92.2 percent blockage of the sun around 3:29 p.m.
NASA estimates that the eclipse will begin around 2:15 p.m. on Monday for Westwood. It will continue for just under two and a half hours, until 4:38 p.m.
Given a normal, daily Westwood Public Schools (WPS) release schedule, students leaving school buildings will experience the partial eclipse in different stages:
- Thurston Middle School students will be dismissed shortly after the eclipse begins.
- Westwood High School students, who are dismissed just before 3:00 p.m., will leave campus when coverage of the sun approaches about 50 percent.
- Elementary school students, who are dismissed shortly before 3:30 p.m., will leave their school buildings close in time to the maximum coverage of the sun.
Throughout WPS, students are being provided eclipse glasses by the Westwood PTO, enabling them to safely look at the sun. Viewers of the eclipse should never look directly at the sun without certified solar eclipse glasses. Doing so presents the risk of permanent eye damage, as the sun's UV rays can burn cells in the eye's retina.
A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves between the earth and the sun and completely blocks the face of the sun. This type of eclipse allows for an opportunity for viewers using special eclipse glasses to view the sun's corona. The corona typically cannot be seen due to the bright face of the sun.
Some local residents who want to view the eclipse in its totality have made plans to travel to nearby areas like Burlington, Vermont, where totality begins at 3:26 p.m. and ends at 3:29 p.m. In Lancaster, New Hampshire, totality begins and ends one minute later. In Caribou, Maine, totality begins at 3:32 p.m. and ends at 3:34 p.m.
