We hope you enjoyed it!
There is a lot of information about the eclipses on the internet. How can you be sure that what you are reading on Eclipse2024.org is accurate?
This is a great question, and I'd like to talk to you directly about it. My name is Dan McGlaun, and I live in the midwestern US (in the path for the 2024 eclipse!). I've always been fascinated with astronomy, and I saw my first total solar eclipse in 1991. I was immediately hooked, and have tried to make it to see as many eclipses as possible in the years since then.
I've managed to make it to 15 total eclipses, as well as many annulars. My stories are posted elsewhere, but this site isn't about my experiences - it's about yours:
In 2017 I operated Eclipse2017.org, and it was very successful. I was fortunate to be part of a great outreach effort from the entire eclipse-chasing community (yes, there is such a thing!), and we did a wonderful job preparing people for the excitement of the first total eclipse in North America since 1979.
Now, many people have their experience from that eclipse, and are ready for more. Many other people have still not seen totality, and so this time I wanted to change it up a bit - offering "Much More for '24"! I also wanted to include information about the 2023 annular eclipse, so people could enjoy both eclipses.
But why should you listen to anything I have to say about eclipses? Well, my background is also in math, computer science and technical project management. I do all my own eclipse calculations, and have done them for over 20 years using techniques I learned from masters such as Fred Espenak, Xavier Jubier, Jay Pasachoff, Luca Quaglia and Jean Meeus. I've refined these techniques to the point where I am 100% comfortable offering my results as accurate and complete!
I've had the pleasure to meet and work with all the top individuals in the eclipse world, and I consider all of them (including the people who run other eclipse web sites) to be my friends. This includes the individuals who are responsible for making and certifying the eclipse glasses that are so critical to viewing an eclipse safely. All these individuals share the passion of evangelizing the eclipse experience, to get people interested and excited about something so unique and inspring!
I've also worked with dozens of programmers, as well as artists, composers, designers, translators, other math geeks, and a whole slew of people who have validated my results and the information I'm offering the public. This has made Eclipse2024.org a place you can trust for information, and that's as it should be. I have not copied anyone else's information, and I use my own predictions to determine where I myself am going to watch the eclipse from. If I wouldn't use it to personally experience the eclipse, then it's not on this site.
On this site, you won't find a lot of flashy graphics or the latest trends in web page design. What you WILL find is world-class substance and content. You'll find information about both eclipses as seen from 140,000 cities! You'll find YouTube eclipse videos that show what it will look like from 2500 cities. You'll find blog posts for 75 eclipse viewing areas, which include information on how and where to watch the eclipse as well as interactive maps that show you the eclipse's progress. You'll find everything translated by professional, human translators into Mexican Spanish and Canadian French. And the Eclipse2024.org Eclipse Simulator is something I'm especially proud of. It's being featured all over the place as one of the best ways to visualize the eclipse.
In short, I'm doing this out of love, but also out of a duty to give back to the public something of the eclipse experiences that have changed my life. The last 13 years of my life have been devoted to this effort. You can be certain that I've spared no time, effort, or expense to bring you the most accurate information possible. If you find something that helps you, then my mission has been successful. Thanks for visiting eclipse2024.org, and I wish you CLEAR SKIES on eclipse day!
Dan