Financial Services Association, April 7 (Editor Shi Zhengcheng) According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) forecast, starting Monday afternoon local time, residents living in various cities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States will experience a “once in a lifetime” full eclipse viewing experience.

At the same time, since the area where this total solar eclipse occurred spanned the entire United States from south to north, it also sparked a “shielded from the sky” tourism boom.

A total solar eclipse in a perfect location

A total solar eclipse is a common astronomical phenomenon. When the Moon is in a specific position between the Earth and the Sun, and the three are arranged in a straight line, a group of lucky people on Earth will be able to see the “total solar eclipse” spectacle. However, people living in their surrounding area can only observe partial eclipses of the Moon crossing the Sun.

According to NASA's predictions, cities such as Dallas, Indianapolis, and Buffalo are directly in the “total eclipse belt,” while New York and Washington DC can only see about 90% of the sun being blocked, and places such as Los Angeles on the west coast can only experience 40% of the solar partial eclipse.

(The grey one is the total solar eclipse belt, source: NASA)

It is worth mentioning that as early as a few centuries BC, scientists on Earth discovered the rules of movement of these three celestial bodies and summed up the Sharo cycle: about every 18 months, a total solar eclipse can be seen somewhere on Earth. However, since most of the Earth's regions are oceans, many total solar eclipses occur in remote areas. Therefore, for densely populated regions, the interval between experiencing a total solar eclipse can be as short as a few decades, and as long as 300 to 400 years.

Fred Espenak, a retired NASA astrophysicist who has chased total solar eclipses 30 times in his life, explained, “The biggest appeal of a total solar eclipse is that you can see the sun's corona. Even in 99% of partial solar eclipses, you can't see these things. It's the difference between day and night.”

(Photo from the 2017 total solar eclipse in Oregon, source: NASA)

Tomorrow's upcoming total solar eclipse is receiving special attention due to multiple factors: the total eclipse is 115 miles long and covers 30 million residents from Mexico and the US to Canada. The total solar eclipse that can be observed in some regions will take more than 4 minutes, which is quite a long time.

According to estimates, the next total solar eclipse of this magnitude in the mainland of the United States will not occur until 2045, when the whole food belt will pass all the way east from California through Florida. Also, northern Montana and North Dakota in 2044, and southern Florida in 2052 will gently sweep through whole food belts. Other than that, most Americans won't be able to see a total solar eclipse at home for the next 50 years.

Because of this, the local tourism industry in the US has been struggling with this moment for many years.

Many places welcome “wealth that overshadowed the sky”

Although the total solar eclipse is only 4 minutes full, this “total eclipse belt” favored by celestial movements still ushered in a moment of brief blowout in the tourism economy.

According to local media reports, according to statistics from the data analysis company AirDNA, more than half of the cities on the total solar eclipse path have already been booked for Sunday night, and thousands of Airbnbs are expected to have 100% occupancy rates. In the northeastern region of New York, police also warned commuters to prepare for a “12-hour traffic jam,” and the same is expected in other regions.

As one of the biggest beneficiaries of this astronomical spectacle, the city of Buffalo, New York is expected to welcome millions of visitors. Patrick Kaler, CEO of the local travel agency Visit Buffalo Niagara, said this was their “Super Bowl” or “Taylor Swift concert.” The first group tours scheduled this year's itinerary as early as 2017, after the partial solar diet.

For an “industrial rust belt” like Buffalo City, even a short tourist boom is a popular situation in the local area. Of course, the heavy crowds also brought a series of unexpected problems: local officials are considering whether to announce a holiday to ease traffic problems; some inmates have also filed lawsuits because jails in more than 20 states have already declared that inmates must stay in jails during the solar eclipse.

Erie Canal, who runs a pub in Buffalo, said his bar is selling 300 tickets to watch the total solar eclipse this time, and they will give free sunglasses to every guest.

Buffalo's Revival Distillery had a similar idea. The company launched a draft beer with a full solar diet theme, which sold twice as fast as beer products during the same period.

In addition to watching the sun and drinking, there are even more exciting activities. Skydive the Falls, an organization that operates skydiving events, launched an event called “Whole Food Skydive,” which captures the moment the sky turns dark and jumps from a height of 13,500 feet.

In addition to a series of commercial events, NASA is also hosting a “Meet the Dark Side of the Moon” event at Niagara Falls State Park in New York State. At that time, a series of scientists and astronauts will participate in the event, as well as space-themed music shows and fireworks shows.

(Source: Niagara Falls State Park)