A total solar eclipse is coming to Missouri in 2024. It’s time to get ready

In April 2024, many people who live in eastern Missouri and southern Illinois will find themselves in that rare path of totality.
The opportunity to experience a total solar eclipse is rare. Even rarer is getting to experience two in one’s lifetime — in the same place.

On average, a total solar eclipse occurs once every 400 years in the same location on Earth. In 2017, the St. Louis region was within the path of totality for the first time since 1869. In April 2024, many people who live in eastern Missouri and southern Illinois will find themselves in that rare path of totality.

Author and umbraphile David Baron made plans to see his first total solar eclipse after interviewing the late astronomer and solar corona expert Jay Pasachoff while working as a science reporter in 1994. A type of partial eclipse called an annular solar eclipse brought Pasachoff to town, but it was his passionate description of experiencing totality that drew Baron to eclipse chasing.