LIVE STREAM: The 2024 Total Solar Eclipse April 8

The Earth, moon and sun do a rare dance across the United States in the form of a solar eclipse on April 8. Cedar Rapids will see a partial eclipse, while other areas of the country will see a total eclipse. But you can watch the entire eclipse live right here.

The eclipse start time in Cedar Rapids will be 12:46 p.m. Maximum coverage of 85 percent will be reached at 2:01 p.m. The eclipse will end at 3:16 p.m.

The nearest point to Cedar Rapids to view totality will be about 300 miles away in southern Illinois or Indiana. The total eclipse portion is tantalizingly brief. Depending on how close you are to the centerline of the path of the shadow, totality (the moment the moon's shadow completely covers the sun) will last anywhere from 2 to 4 minutes.

The total eclipse will begin in the South Pacific and move through Mexico, the United States and Canada before ending in the North Atlantic. In the United States, it will enter Texas at about 12:30 p.m. (Central Time), move across 14 states and exit through Maine at 3:30 p.m. (Eastern Time). The width of the moon’s shadow covering the sun will be more than 100 miles wide. The entire event is about two and a half-hours from the moment the moon first appears to touch the sun’s edge through totality to when the moon finally leaves the sun’s sphere.

April’s eclipse will be the first total eclipse in the United States since 2017. We won't see another in the lower forty-eight states until 2044 when a few Montana and North Dakota residents will be treated to the sight. In 2045, an annular eclipse will sweep across the lower half of the country from California to Florida.