2024 Total Solar Eclipse Video

Russellville, Arkansas

The complete eclipse sequence with the camera lens and exposure settings held constant.

My brother David, Holly and I were lucky enough to witness the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024 from Russellville, Arkansas.

Here is a link to our video of the 2017 total solar eclipse from Mitchell, Oregon. Check it out for a description of my first total eclipse experience.

A few things to watch for: notice the street light turning on in the background. Look for the planet Venus below and to the right of the Sun/Moon (one-and-the-same for 4 minutes!). We could also see Jupiter above and to the left, but it's out of frame. With a telescope, you could also see Mercury, Mars and Saturn.

In my description of the 2017 eclipse, I mention how at about 3 minutes and 15 seconds, couples spontaneously hug each other, and it happened again at almost exactly the same interval - 3 minutes and 7 seconds. I described the reason for it in this way: because of the irrepressible nowness of experiencing this wonder and what it means to be together on this planet sweeping through the stars.

The shadow of the moon traveled over the Earth’s surface at around 1,500 mph, so our fellow Earthlings in Burlington, Vermont, were hugging each other about 35 minutes later.

––Tim Erskine, Director