2023 Solar Eclipse: Can You See It In New England?

The 2023 solar eclipse is happening on Saturday, October 14, 2023. So will we be able to experience it in New England?

The short answer is: yes and no. Firstly, this year's solar eclipse is actually a partial solar eclipse. So even for viewers lucky enough to be in the direct path of the eclipse, they'll only get 90% obscuration of the sun. The reason for this? On the 14th, the moon will be farther from the Earth, so the sun won't be fully blocked. Still, though, 90% is nothing to sniff at. Any percent is worth experiencing, really.

I know all of this thanks to Gary Boyle, The Backyard Astronomer. Gary is an astronomy educator in Canada who gives public lectures and writes a monthly column for the Royal Astronomical Society. He's been casting his eyes skyward for decades and is an expert on the heavens. He's put together a great bit of information on this year's solar eclipse, so I'm sharing some of his wisdom below.

Says Gary: "A few times each year the sun, moon and Earth perform a cosmic lineup in space producing an eclipse. On Saturday, October 14, 2023, skywatchers along a path starting in Oregon through Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and ending in Texas will see an annular eclipse of the sun. The rest of North America (depending on your geographic location) will see a partial eclipse with varying percentages of the sun covered by the moon."

Take a look at Gary's map below and you'll see that New England falls in the 20% band for the October 2023 eclipse. But no matter the percentage, precautions must be taken. As Gary warns: "Since at no point will the sun be safely covered by the moon, DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN without protective means. You can safely see by items such as a vegetable strainer, spaghetti colander or anything with small holes, even a Ritz cracker. Holding up the strainer or cracker allows you to view little crescent suns on a sheet of paper in safety."

If you're viewing in the Boston area on Saturday, the eclipse will begin around 12:18 p.m. and last until 2:33 p.m. Visit Gary Boyle online for more tips and information.

There's a lot of history in New England. And New England's historical homes house a lot of that history. Let's see where to go.

I was lucky enough to grow up in New England. Massachusetts, specifically. Wakefield, even more specifically. And Greenwood, even more specifically than that. From field trips to day trips, I've visited historic places all over the state. Because there's a lot of history here! All the way back to Plimouth Plantation, where I went with my Greenwood School classmates and took my own kids years later.

When you have a place like Massachusetts--and New England as well--where people have been building houses for hundreds of years, you end up with a lot of historic homes. I can remember looking for those historic home markers on houses when I was a kid. And I actually have one in my neighborhood now: the Count Rumford House in North Woburn. It's even open for tours from time to time.

But here's the thing: there's so many of these spread out all over New England that it's hard to get a read on where to go. Enter the fine folks at Assurance. They put together something called Preserving the Past: Cities With the Most Historical Homes and it's a fine resource. They dig into, among other things, the U.S. cities with the most historic homes. But I'd like to focus on New England.

Assurance played with the numbers a bit and got a ranking for the U.S. cities with the most historic homes per 100,000 residents. And that's where New England really shines. Five out of the six states landed cities on that list, so let's see how many houses each city boasts. And let's pay one a visit, while we're at it! Oh, and the full list is here if you want more.

275.5 Historic Homes per 100,000 residents - With all of those breathtaking mansions that attract thousands upon thousands of tourists annually, it's no wonder Newport landed in the Top 5.

245.7 Historic Homes per 100,000 residents - Wasn't Martha Stewart's famous first home, Turkey Hill, in Greenwich? All those high-end CT towns just blend together.

241.3 Historic Homes per 100,000 residents - I was really hoping it was Bangor that would make the list and not Augusta. Because Stephen King's house is in Bangor. What the hell, let's take a look at it anyway.

215.1 Historic Homes per 100,000 residents - Newton's just a stone's throw from the ROCK 92.9 studios in Waltham. I might have to pay a visit to the Hammond House one of these days.

184.9 Historic Homes per 100,000 residents - There's a pretty decent drop-off between 12 and 15 on this list, but there's still plenty to see from Olde Towne and beyond in Portsmouth.

178.1 Historic Homes per 100,000 residents - It's no surprise that Cambridge cracked the Top 20. It's just a surprise that a city so rich in history wouldn't rank higher!