March Prime Times Newsletter Part 2

Newsletter for Active Older Adults

10 Strange Facts About The 2024 Solar Eclipse

by Jamie Carter

Updated: January 16, 2024

Have you heard about the 2024 Solar Eclipse? In something of a repeat of what happened in 2017, one of the most beautiful sites in nature is coming to the United States. However, on April 8, 2024, the path of totality will be wider, and the Sun will be eclipsed for much longer. Here are some fascinating things about this total solar eclipse to help you learn more about this rare and wonderful spectacle. Don’t miss it!

1. This solar eclipse will be one of the most-watched live natural events in history

During the total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, the path of totality was home to about 12 million people. This time it’s 32 million, largely in big cities like Mazatlán in Mexico, San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth and Dallas in Texas, Indianapolis in Indiana, Cleveland in Ohio and Buffalo and Rochester in New York. All will experience totality.

2. It will be the longest totality on land since 2010 and until 2027

The point of greatest eclipse duration on April 8, 2024, will be Nazas in Durango, Mexico, where 4 minutes 28 seconds of totality will be experienced. That’s the longest on land since a 4 minutes 40 seconds totality on Rapa Nui/Easter Island on July 11, 2010. On August 2, 2027, a total solar eclipse lasting 6 minutes 23 seconds will occur close to Luxor in Egypt.

3. Over two-thirds of the path of totality is at sea

Although the path of totality will stretch across northwest Mexico, the US and maritime Canada, it will mostly occur over the ocean. Of its 9,020 miles total length, 6,645 miles will be over water and just 3,375 miles over land. Beginning in the South Pacific and ending in the North Atlantic, an eclipsed Sun will rise between Penrhyn Atoll in the Cook Islands and Kiribati’s Starbuck Island. At the other end of the path, an eclipsed Sun will set north of the Azores in the North Atlantic.

Newsletter for Active Older Adults

10 Strange Facts About The 2024 Solar Eclipse

by Jamie Carter

Updated: January 16, 2024

4. Venus, Jupiter and the “Devil Comet” may be visible during totality

Since it will be a particularly long totality, the sky will get noticeably dark. Even before totality occurs, the planet Venus is likely to be visible 15° west-southwest of the Sun. During totality, Jupiter will appear about 30º northwest of the Sun. Between Jupiter and the eclipse, it may just be possible to see Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks a/k/a the “Devil Comet” 25º from the Sun, though probably only through binoculars.

5. It’s the result of a remarkable coincidence

Total solar eclipses are possible only because the Moon can sometimes appear to be exactly the same size as the Sun. It’s not, of course, but sometimes being 400 times closer and 400 times smaller works out just perfectly for just blocking the Sun for us on Earth. On April 8, 2024, a perigee new Moon’s apparent diameter will be 5.5% larger than average. The opposite can be the case. When the Moon’s apparent diameter is smaller an apogee new Moon causes a ‘ring of fire’ annular solar eclipse. In the future that will be the only kind of central solar eclipse. The Moon is gradually drifting away from Earth at 1.5 inches per year and once it’s 14,600 miles farther out it will appear too small from Earth to cover the Sun, according to NASA. That won’t happen for 600 million years.

6. Tennessee, Kentucky and Michigan will see a technical totality

For three of the 15 US States within the path of totality, it will be a fleeting experience. Only Slough Landing Neck in Lake County in Tennessee’s northwest corner will see totality while the banks of the Mississippi in Kentucky, including the town of Paducah, will witness darkness in the day. In Michigan totality will be experienced only by Erie in its extreme southeastern corner.

7. The eclipse may coincide with ‘storm chasing’ season in Tornado Alley ‘Tornado Alley’ in the US is what storm-chasers often call the western portions of the southern Great Plains covering Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. It’s where the often devastating columns of violently rotating air are most frequently seen, though they can also occur in Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan. Many of these states are in the path of totality on April 8, 2024. That should alarm most and it’s advisable to stay away from those areas if storms are predicted—though storm-chasers will dream of seeing both an eclipse of the Sun and a tornado on the same day.

8. It crosses the path of America’s last solar eclipse

Towns like Cape Girardeau in Missouri, Carbondale and Makanda in Illinois and Paducah in Kentucky all experienced totality on August 21, 2017, and will again on April 8, 2024. However, the path in 2024 also crosses the path of America’s next major total solar eclipse.

Newsletter for Active Older Adults

10 Strange Facts About The 2024 Solar Eclipse

by Jamie Carter

Updated: January 16, 2024

9. Onlookers will get cold and see ‘shadow bands’

When the Sun is blocked by the Moon, onlookers experience darkness in the day and a drop in temperature of about 10°F to 15°F. Also visible on the ground just before and after totality will be shadow bands, thin moving wavy lines moving and undulating in parallel, according to NASA. They’re a consequence of turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere.

10. The same alignment will cause an eclipse in 2042 Eclipses are not random. They take place in overlapping patterns called Saros (“the repetition”). Every 18 years, 11 days and eight hours the Sun, Moon and Earth align in almost the same way, causing a very similar solar eclipse. So on April 20, 2042 the same alignment that causes the 2024 total solar eclipses will bring a Moon shadow of very similar dimensions to Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Both eclipses are part of Saros 139.

Austin,Texas

Dallas,Texas

FairformuchofTXforeclipse,butcloudsmaybeproblematicforOK,AR LittleRock,Arkansas

CapeGirardeau,Missouri

Carbondale,Illinois

Indianapolis,Indiana

Cleveland,Ohio

Erie,Pennsylvania

FairformuchofTXforeclipse,butcloudsmaybeproblematicforOK,AR

Generallydry,cool.MOhasscatteredcloudsforeclipse-watchers.

Eclipse-watchersinILshouldgetgoodviews,butIN,KY,OHmaynot Showers, thunderstormsincreasefromOHValley,pointseast.

Eclipse-watchersinILshouldgetgoodviews,butIN,KY,OHmaynot.Showers, thunderstormsincreasefromOHValley,pointseast.

Eclipse-watchersinILshouldgetgoodviews,butIN,KY,OHmaynot Showers, thunderstormsincreasefromOHValley,pointseast

CloudslikelytoeclipsetheeclipseforPA,NY,VT,NH,ME.Showers, thunderstormspossible. Buffalo,NewYork

Hamilton,Ontario

Burlington,Vermont

CloudslikelytoeclipsetheeclipseforPA,NY,VT,NH,ME.Showers, thunderstormspossible.

Eclipse-watchersmaynotbefortunate,asshowersandthunderstormsincrease, sweepeast

CloudslikelytoeclipsetheeclipseforPA,NY,VT,NH,ME.Showers, thunderstormspossible. Montreal,Quebec

CloudslikelytoeclipsetheeclipseforMontrealandtheMaritimes.Showersand thunderstormsanincreasingthreat

IslandFalls,Maine

CloudslikelytoeclipsetheeclipseforPA,NY,VT,NH,ME Showers, thunderstormspossible Fredericton,NewBrunswick

CloudslikelytoeclipsetheeclipseforMontrealandtheMaritimes.Showersand thunderstormsanincreasingthreat. Tignish,PrinceEdwardIsland

CloudslikelytoeclipsetheeclipseforMontrealandtheMaritimes Showersand thunderstormsanincreasingthreat Bonavista,Newfoundland

Sadly,widespreadcloudsprobablywillhideviewsofthetotallyeclipsedSunfor Newfoundland.Rainandwetsnow.

CitiesInThePathOfTotality City Totalitybegins(Localtime) Durationoftotality WeatherForecast

1:36p m 1min 53sec

FairformuchofTXforeclipse,butcloudsmaybeproblematicforOK,AR

1:40p m 3min 47sec

1:51p m 2min 33sec

1:58p.m. 4min.06sec.

1:59p.m. 4min.08sec.

3:06p.m. 3min.46sec.

3:13p m 3min 50sec

3:16p.m. 3min.43sec.

3:18p.m. 3min.45sec.

3:18p m 1min 45sec

3:26p.m. 3min.14sec.

3:26p m 1min 12sec

3:31p m 3min 20sec

4:33p.m. 2min.16sec.

4:35p m 3min 13sec

5:13p m 2min 51sec

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Newsletter for Active Older Adults Bunny Butt Cake

By Joy Howard

Updated on September 19, 2023

Tested by EatingWell Test Kitchen

Prep Time: 45 mins

Additional Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins

Servings: 12

Ingredients

Cake

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole-wheat flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup butter or coconut oil, softened

2 large eggs

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

¾ cup buttermilk

Frosting

Yield: 1 cake

8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, softened

⅓ cup confectioners' sugar

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Decorations

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 large strawberry, sliced

6 small blueberries

Directions

To prepare cake: Position racks in the middle and upper third of oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 3 (1/2-cup) muffin cups with paper liners. Coat a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray.

Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl.

Beat granulated sugar and butter (or coconut oil) in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined after each addition. Add lemon zest and juice; beat until combined. With the mixer on low, alternately mix in the dry ingredients and buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed, until just combined.

Fill each prepared muffin cup halfway with the batter, then add the remaining batter to the prepared cake pan. Place the cake on the center rack in the oven and the cupcakes on a rack above it. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes for the cupcakes and 30 minutes for the cake. Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, prepare frosting: Combine cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

To assemble and decorate cake: Halve the cake vertically. Frost the top of one half and set the other half on top. Stand the layers upright on their cut end. Trim 1/2 inch from the bottom of one of the cupcakes, then use a toothpick to attach it, cut-side down, to the top center of the cake for the bunny tail. Use more frosting to cover the cake and cupcake. Sprinkle with shredded coconut.

Frost the two remaining cupcakes. Use toothpicks to attach them to the bottom of the cake. Press a strawberry slice and three blueberries into each cupcake to create feet.