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Thursday November 21, 2024 Salt Lake City, UT

Press Release

Protecting Utah

Be Prepared for the Annular Solar Eclipse

Wednesday October 11, 2023

October 14, 2023 – it’s an astronomical and chronological alignment never seen before!*

The sun, the moon, and Utah’s fall break will all align!

On Saturday, October 14th between approximately 10:26 am MST and 10:33 am MST, the sun will be eclipsed by the moon in an annular “Ring of Fire” eclipse.

During an annular solar eclipse, the apparent size of the Moon’s disk is slightly smaller than the apparent size of the Sun’s disk. Therefore, only the outer edge of the Sun remains visible and the Sun appears as a brilliant ring if you are inside the path of annular solar eclipse. This is an otherworldly sight often called a “ring of fire”.

Image from https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/utah-2023-eclipse

BE PREPARED FOR TRAFFIC

After the total solar eclipse in Idaho 2017, many people were stuck in significant traffic returning to Utah.

UDOT is anticipating significant increase in traffic before and after the eclipse.

If you’ll be traveling the day before, the day of, or the day after the eclipse, you should be prepared for increased traffic.

  • Make sure you have extra snacks, water, blankets, and entertainment for small children.
  • Allow plenty of extra time to get to your destination
  • Pack an emergency kit in your vehicle

PROTECT YOUR EYES

Whether you’ll be traveling to see the eclipse or just staying home and looking up, you need to protect your eyes.

Get tips from the American Astronomical Society for safe solar eclipse viewing here.

As the eclipse gets closer, prices of solar viewing glasses are likely to increase and available stock is likely to decrease. Safe solar viewers are thousands of times darker and must comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard. SAVE YOUR GLASSES for the full solar eclipse, which will happen in April 8, 2024.

LEAVE NO TRACE

If you’ll be traveling to some of Utah’s beautiful backcountry, state parks, or national parks to view the eclipse, Discover Moab has prepared some helpful information to help make sure you leave only footprints, and take only pictures.

Have a safe and enjoyable eclipse experience!

A poster from BLM – download it here!
A map from Utah State Parks – download it here!
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MEDIA CONTACT

Hillary Koellner
Director of Public Affairs
Department of Public Safety
hmkoellner@utah.gov

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