Kids may learn about solar eclipses by playing NASA's "Snap It!" computer game.

Kids may learn about solar eclipses by playing NASA's "Snap It!" computer game.

The game provides an excellent overview of solar eclipses and what to anticipate on April 8.

A new computer game from NASA aims to teach children about solar eclipses in advance of the complete solar eclipse that will occur on April 8 and cast the moon's shadow across North America. 

Players of the game "Snap It! An Eclipse Photo Adventure" are tasked with assisting an interplanetary traveler who is visiting Earth to shoot pictures of the sun. The game, which teaches youngsters about how the moon covers the sun's brightness during a solar eclipse, is intended for children seven years old and older. 

On April 8, a complete solar eclipse will cross over Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Around 11:07 a.m. PDT, the Pacific coast of Mexico will be the first place to see totality, with the eclipse beginning over the South Pacific Ocean. Then, at 5:16 p.m. NDT, the eclipse will go over fifteen U.S. states before leaving continental North America on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada, according to NASA. 

An extraterrestrial visitor from a planet without solar eclipses (which happen when the moon passes between Earth and the sun) appears in the instructive Snap It! game. Taking twenty pictures of eclipses and other phenomena that transit—that is, pass in front of—the sun is the aim of the game.

Kids are encouraged to use their keyboard and mouse to assist the alien visitor in taking pictures of the sun in this computer game, which can be played on any internet-connected computer. The images are assembled into an album together with details on all the many objects that pass in front of the sun, including the Parker Solar Probe. After that, users may make and download virtual postcards to send to loved ones. 

The moon looks nearly precisely the same size as the sun on April 8 during the complete solar eclipse. For a few minutes, spectators inside the path of totality, which is between 100 and 123 miles (162 and 200 kilometers) wide, are unable to see the full disk. Viewers will then be able to see the corona, or outer atmosphere, of the sun.

Check out our tips on safe solar observation if you're hoping to witness the solar eclipse on April 8. Wearing solar eclipse glasses and making sure that cameras, telescopes, and binoculars have solar filters on them at all times is required for everyone watching the partial stages of this eclipse, including those who are not in the line of totality. The sun's corona will only be momentarily visible to those who are in the line of totality.