Eclipse Soundscapes

How do the sudden darkness and temperature changes of a solar eclipse impact life on Earth? Eclipse Soundscapes invites you to document changes in the environment during the week of the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse, using your own senses or an audiomoth sound recorder.

Anyone in or near the path of the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse path is invited to participate. Your observations will reveal how animals and insects respond to dramatic changes in their environment. All project resources - including those for educators - are provided in multiple formats to support accessibility and inclusion.

Include the Eclipse Soundscapes Project at your Eclipse Day event! Check out our Quick Start Guide.

Go to Project Website about Eclipse Soundscapes

project task

Collecting data

Division

Heliophysics

where

Outside, near the path of the April 8 solar eclipse

launched

2023

What you’ll do

Learn about eclipses.
Observe and report your multi-sensory observations of a solar eclipse.

Requirements

Time: Different roles (apprentice, observer, data collector) require different time commitments. Apprentice 1 hour; Observer 1-2 hours; Data Collector 1-3 hours
Equipment: No equipment required for Apprentice or Observer roles. Data Collector role requires an AudioMoth device, a MicroSD card a plastic bag, zip ties and a return envelope.
Knowledge: None. In project tutorials provide all instruction needed for each role.

Get started!

Visit the Eclipse Soundscapes (ES) website to learn more about the roles below.
Learn about eclipses with the Apprentice Training, which is available in English and Spanish.
Be an ES Observer on eclipse day using your own senses, then submit your observations to the ES website! (no equipment needed; available in Spanish)
Interested in scientific tools and audio recording? Be an ES Data Collector (Equipment required, weeklong activity; available in Spanish.)

Learn More

Learn about animal and insect behaviour during solar eclipses.

Follow Eclipse Soundscapes on X @EclipseSoundUDL, and @EclipseSoundscapes on Instagram and Facebook.
Find out about the Heliophysics Big Year - a yearlong celebration of heliophysics.

👁 Two bands of shade cross a true color image of the United States and the northern parts of Mexico and southern parts of Canada. The shade band associated with the October 14 2023 annular eclipse is approximately 100 miles wide and stretches in length beginning in coastal Oregon and continues diagonally in a southeast direction through parts of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and finally through Corpus Cristi, Texas. The band of shade associated with the April 8 2024 total eclipse is approximately 125 miles wide and stretches in length starting in Mexico, and crosses diagonally in a northeast across the United States entering over San Antonio, Texas and continuing across parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine and then into New Brunswick, Canada.

This map shows where the Moon’s shadow will cross the U.S. during the 2023 annular solar eclipse and 2024 total solar eclipse. The map was developed by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS) in collaboration with the NASA Heliophysics Activation Team (NASA HEAT). Visit the interactive map.

Credit: NASA/Scientific Visualization Studio/Michala Garrison; eclipse calculations by Ernie Wright, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

👁 Silhouette of a white cricket against a black background with a red and yellow gradient. Text reads Eclipse Soundscapes.org.

👁 A man and a child examine an AudioMoth recorder, a green square-shaped device about the size of a deck of cards.

Eclipse Soundscapes Data Collectors deploy AudioMoth audio recorders like this one, and mail them in after the Eclipse.

Credit: Eclipse Soundscapes

👁 A grasshopper clings to a a thin blade of grass, silhouetted against the orange disk of the evening sun. Eclipse Soundscapes logo in the bottom right corner.

Insects like grasshoppers change their behavior near sunset - typically, they start to sing. How will they behave during an eclipse?

Credit: Ihor Hvozdetskyi: Royalty-free stock photo ID: 1630876729