One of the fun things with flight simulations that attempt to simulate the whole of Earth and its weather is that space weather might also impact the simulation at various points. We know even IL-2 Sturmovik, a combat flight sim, does eclipses. So I set out to see how well MSFS does one and it turns out it does it well but not perfectly.

Eclipse… live!

North America is experiencing the first of two solar eclipses over the next six months. The first, happening as I type this on October 14, is an annular eclipse which has the moon cover most of the sun along a band stretching from Oregon to Texas.

Because its cloudy here and only 20% of the sun will be covered I decided to experience it live on Microsoft Flight Simulator and it sort of does eclipses although with some limitations.

As you can see, I’m in the FSS E-Jets E175 with an Alaska flight going from Seattle to San Diego. I did check out various spots in the sim before setting out on the flight but it turns out that MSFS is not capable of displaying an annular eclipse. The moon does definitely obscure the sun but its never at totality.

The sim also doesn’t simulate the loss of light with no discernible difference in brightness as the sun is briefly covered by the moon.

I’ve been watching live coverage on NASA’s YouTube channel to see the eclipse happen over and over again at different viewing stations along the path.

Parts of South America will experience the eclipse as the day wears on. If you do get a chance to observe, remember to protect your eyes and never look at the sun without proper solar glasses. A pinhole punched in a piece of paper is a good indirect way to see the eclipse too.