New solar eclipse map shows path of totality could shift that could leave some US towns without views of the celestial event

The path of the eclipse’s totality could shift on Monday – and now experts are urging people to travel to different places to witness the celestial event.

Amateur astronomer John Irwin has released a new map of the 115-mile path from Maine through Texas, showing that the path has changed about 2,000 feet.

The updated calculation has suggested that people in places like Rome, New York, Effingham, Illinois and some parts of Fort Worth, Texas will no longer have a perfect view of the eclipse.

About 34 million people are expected to see the eclipse, but hundreds of thousands of viewers will now be left out of the direct path and unable to view the event.

As people prepare to travel to view the eclipse, Irwin’s report has suggested that the path of totality, which has been predicted for months, could be slightly off.

Irwin is part of a team analyzing the solar eclipse for the Besselian elements, and according to the websitethey reported that the adjustment takes into account “topographic height both around the edge of the moon and on the Earth’s surface.”

Topographic elevation is the adjustment of how close the Earth is to the sun, taking into account mountainous areas that would slightly change where the path of totality will be.

“By taking into account the topography of both the Moon and Earth, an accurate eclipse forecast has drawn new attention to a small but real uncertainty about the size of the Sun,” a NASA spokesperson told Dailymail.com.

It added that uncertainty about Earth’s rotation could also affect predictions about the path the eclipse will take.

The map shows a series of red lines indicating where the path of totality should be, while the orange lines indicate the new adjustment.

NASA said there is “a small but real uncertainty about the size of the Sun,” adding that this could lead to a narrower path to totality.

However, despite reports that the path has shifted, NASA says it is not changing its predictions.

“Calculations that use a slightly larger radius for the size of the Sun yield an eclipse path that is slightly narrower,” Dr. Michael Kirk, research scientist in the Heliophysics Science Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Thrillist.

‘This difference would only affect cities at the very edge of the path of totality, where general predictions are difficult anyway – a few city blocks one way or another could mean 20, 10 or 0 seconds of totality .’

However, the change will be so small that people who have traveled to the area are unlikely to need to move – making the forecast cloud cover a greater concern in some areas.

Kapila Castoldi, a physics major at Oakland University, said that even if the new calculation is correct, “the differences are so small” that it won’t matter to most viewers.

But to be on the safe side, NASA told DailyMail.com that for those on the edges of the path, it may be worth traveling closer to the center to ensure good visibility.

“Traveling to the center of the path of totality, even a kilometer or two, will quickly increase the length of totality that humans can see,” the space agency spokesperson said.

People in cities like Dallas, Indianapolis, Buffalo and Cleveland will still see the expected four minutes of the total solar eclipse.