Total Solar Eclipse 2017
Monday, 21 Aug 2017
The path through the United States
...and what you'll see if
you're in it!
Go here to visit Xavier Jubier's Interactive
Google Map.
The link will take you to a map of the US. Zoom in and click
on any location to see the local times and circumstances for the
eclipse!
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There will be several eclipses that pass over the US in the 21st century. This is only the first, but it has been a long time coming! If you miss this one, you will only need to wait seven years for another, it's true - but why wait?! And besides, the eclipse in 2024 will also be visible from Mexico and Canada (in fact, Mexico is really a better place to watch that one from!). So come on out for this one, and enjoy what will truly be considered "America's Eclipse!" |
Mid-August 2017
People from all over the world begin to converge on the United
States. Except for people returning home, visiting family, or
conducting business at what happens to be just exactly the right
time in history, these will be people who make it a point to
travel to wherever the moon's shadow is going to touch the earth,
and position themselves in a spot carefully chosen - sometimes
years in advance - to ensure they see the sight.
These people will make contingency travel plans in case of
last-minute clouds. These people will fill hotel rooms, sometimes
inadvertently displacing locals from their homes as space gets
harder to come by. These people will travel through miles of
desert or forest or frozen wasteland, braving the harshest of
conditions...for a short glimpse at the eclipsed sun.
These people are coming to America, because for the first time in
26 years, a total solar eclipse will occur in our great country,
and we will play host to the world's eclipse-chasers. For those of
us who already live here, but have never seen an eclipse, this is
the opportunity of a lifetime - to see the most beautiful thing on
the planet, and maybe not even have to get on an airplane to get
to it!
Friday, August 18, 2017
Almost everyone who plans to see the eclipse will be in position.
Foreign visitors will be be wrapping up their sightseeing tours of
our country, and getting to their selected viewing areas early to
ensure that no travel glitches have an opportunity to deprive them
of their true goal. Cities along the path who have decided to
create official eclipse viewing areas will have their focus set to
logistics, ensuring the comfort, enjoyment and safety of their
guests. People who have converged on those sites to view the
eclipse will begin the countdown to eclipse day, as final
preparations are made to ensure that photography equipment,
filters, chairs, tables, telescopes, TV monitors, webcast
equipment, hats and sunscreen are all at the ready for the big
day!
Last-minute weather forecasts are checked, and anyone with the
slightest fear of clouds on eclipse day will invoke their travel
contingencies. Weather monitoring will proceed around the clock,
with live updates issued hourly so as to best prepare
eclipse-chasers who will need to move at a moment's notice.
Nothing will stand in the way of seeing the eclipse!
The party begins....
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Please note that all of the following statements about viewing the eclipse are made with two assumptions: (1) "weather permitting", and (2) you MUST use special solar viewing glasses to look at the sun whenever it is not in total eclipse! Please see this page for more on the important subject of eye safety. |
And that land will be United States soil. On the beach in
Oregon, at a rocky spot of ground just north of Newport that
sticks its nose out into the Pacific, the shadow first touches
land at 17:15:50.6UT (at about 10:15 in the morning), and this
lucky piece of earth experiences a full minute and fifty seconds
of totality.
The actual centerline of the eclipse path hits solid ground a full
six seconds later, and plunges Lincoln Beach and Depoe Bay into
darkness for 1m58s!
It takes only about two minutes for the shadow to race eastward
toward its first date with a large population of folks who will be
breathlessly awaiting its arrival. Dallas, Albany, Corvallis, Lebanon, Philomath,
McMinnville, Woodburn, and yes, Salem itself, experience various
lengths of totality (based on their varying distances from the
centerline); on the steps of the State Capitol in Salem (the first
of five State Capitols the shadow will visit), lucky viewers will
be treated to 1m54.5s of shadow at just after 10:17am. Great time
for a coffee break!
The great city of Portland is NOT in the path of
totality! If you're there, or in Eugene, you will not
get the full meal deal! Get south, and get yourself into the
shadow!
The eclipse then leaves our most western friends, and travels
through the forests of central Oregon, hitting the mountains at
Madras and Warm Springs at about 10:19. Mitchell and Prairie City
are next, and the shadow leaves Oregon just north of Ontario.
(Actually, Ontario gets 1m23s of totality at 11:25am MDT, but
folks there would be better served to head north to the rest area
north of Huntington on I-84, or into Idaho on US 95 between
Midvale and Weiser, for better than 30 seconds more totality! Soak
them up; those seconds in the shadow are precious!!!)
IDAHO
On to Idaho, where Stanley and Mackay are the first recipients
of lots of shadow. Idaho Falls is south of the centerline, so
it only basks in the umbra for 1m49s at 11:33am. Rexburg does much
better, getting 2m17s at the same time.
The highest point in Idaho - Borah Peak - is in totality, and that
might not be a bad place to be for the more adventurous types!
But that's it for Idaho - Boise and Pocatello are NOT in the path of
totality! Do not stay home, and think you're getting a good
show, because you're not! Get north, and get into the shadow!
MONTANA
The first of the two states where no populated areas see the
shadow. We're not kidding here - there are no roads, no towns, no
named areas of any kind that will see totality. Only a tiny chip
of a tiny fraction of a tiny part of the tiniest southwestern tip
of the beard of Montana will see totality. No, not Monida, Lima,
or Dell - we're talking much further southwest than that! Less than
eight square miles of this monster state lie in the path.
Only trees - and critters - will see this eclipse from here.
One of the saddest things about this eclipse is that our first
National Park lies just outside the edge of totality! Without a
question, this wonderful, exhilarating landscape would have
provided the perfect spot for viewing nature's most awesome
spectacle, if only the moon had been positioned a little
differently. However, Yellowstone's loss is Grand Teton's gain;
the boundary separating those two great parks is just about
coincident with the Northern limit of the path! This makes the
southern part of Grand Teton National Park one of the best
places in the entire country to position yourself to view this
event! On the centerline, the Park will experience 2m20s of
totality at about 11:35am. Weather permitting, for folks who want
to experience nature while being overwhelmed by nature,
this may just be "The Place To Be"....
Moving onward, the shadow blesses Pavillion (at 11:38), and
Shoshoni and Riverton (at 11:39) with 2m 23s of the great show,
before landing squarely on the city of Casper. The centerline
passes right over the intersection of highway 220 and S. Poplar
Street at 11:42:34am, and gives viewers there 2m26s of totality!
Douglas, Glendo, Lusk and Torrington round out the list of
larger towns that experience totality. Note that if you're in
Wheatland, you're right on the southern edge of the path.
You need to get north, to get as much totality as you can!
NEBRASKA
The eclipse path really shines in this great midwestern state,
cutting across endless miles of prairie, lots of good-sized
cities, and one more state capitol! Take a long lunch hour, and
see an eclipse! Alliance (2m30s at 11:49am) and Scottsbluff (1m43s
at 11:48am) are the first larger cities to see the shadow, and
North Platte (1m40s at 12:54pm CDT) hugs the southern edge. Folks
there should hop up US83 to Stapleton, to get more than two and a
half minutes!
Moving east, the shadow engulfs Hastings at 12:58pm (for 2m13s of
totality), but Grand Island (22 more seconds!) is an even better
place to be!
Omaha
is not in the path! Get down to Lincoln, or better yet, farther south toward
Beatrice (2m35s at 1:02pm), for a better show! Speaking of
Lincoln, this second capitol city in the path lies near its
northern edge, so totality is shorter there - only 1m 25.5s (at
1:02pm) on the grounds of the beautiful State Capitol. The
50-yard-line at Husker stadium gets five seconds less time in the
shadow, so you can see how important it is to get as far south as
you can!
To give you an even better idea of how important your location is
when you're this near the edge, you need look no further than the
airport at Lincoln: Planes waiting to take off on the departure
end of runway 17 (at the north end of the runway) will get only
1m7s of totality, while those at the south end of the runway (if
traffic is departing on 35 that day) will get 18s more!!! Don't
laugh - when you see the beauty of the eclipse, you will wish like
anything that you had eighteen more seconds to see this most
glorious sight!
The shadow leaves the capitol, and the centerline then passes over
Falls City at 1:04pm. The path's great trek through the Cornhusker
State, after having traveled its entire length in only eight
minutes(!), will be over at 1:07:50pm.
The path travels through the very far NE corner of the Sunflower
State, and the centerline passes right over Troy at 1:05:55pm.
Folks there will enjoy 2m38s of totality! Atchison (2m16s at
1:06pm), Hiawatha (2m31s at 1:05pm) and Seneca (2m14s at 1:04pm)
are other cities from which to enjoy this magnificent show!
Yes, Levenworth is in the path as well, but you'll only see 1m35s
there, so I'd head north to St. Joseph MO! (That is, if you can.
We realize that certain residents of Leavenworth may be somewhat
limited in their travel opportunities...)
Topeka is NOT in totality! Head
north and east to get into the path!
IOWA
We list Iowa here because only about three square miles (no, we
didn't measure it) of the far southwestern tip of the state lies
in the path. Not much totality here - Hamburg doesn't get
any, and neither does any of I-29 in the state of IA. I wouldn't
go here to see it unless you live here, and can't move south and
west.
NOTE: Just because Iowa is listed here doesn't mean that if
you're in Iowa, you should stay here to see the eclipse! Only
maybe ten people live in the small chip of the state that sees
the shadow! Please don't think that if you live in Iowa, you'll
see the eclipse!
The eclipse's trek through this great state is one of the more
interesing, because more people will see the eclipse here by
default, than anywhere else along the path. That's because Kansas City and St. Louis are partially in the path of
totality! That's right, even though these cities are both split in
half by the path, and it would be much better for people to get
out of town to get a longer time in the shadow, the truth of the
matter is that many people will be at home or at work, and lots of
them will see the eclipse from their homes and offices in these
two great cities.
Because KC and STL are so big, and because they are split
by the path, we can't give more than a passing reference to actual
totality durations. Suffice it to say that you will only see a
brief totality there, so if you can, get farther into the path!
People in KC need to head north, and in STL, head south. Out of
town, if you can, in both cases! But certainly, please try to get
to the southern edge of STL, or the northern edge of KC, and see
an unbelievable sight.
Recommendations for KCers: Any of the parks on the north side,
like Hodge Park, would be good. Or better yet, any of the
beautiful parks around Smithville Reservoir, or maybe even on a
boat! Take a long weekend, and see an eclipse!
For St. Louis folks, just head south and west as far as you can.
Within 270, you can head to Jefferson Barracks or Clydesdale
parks; if you can get out a little farther, then Lone Elk,
Castlewood, or Greensfelder parks would be good. As close as you
can get to St. Clair (SW) or Festus (S) will be all the better for
the amount of time you get to see the eclipse.
St. Joseph gets a whopping 2m38s of totality at 1:06:26pm! At
1:08, the shadow's southern edge will hit Kansas City, but as
we've said, folks there should have hightailed themselves to
Carrollton (2m37s at 1:09pm), Marshall (2m39s at 1:10pm), or
Lathrop (2m30s at 1:07:45pm) for more of the show. Anyone staying
behind will get a beautiful sight of Baily's Beads along the
bottom of the sun's eclipsed disk. This in itself will be
awe-inspiring, and will somewhat compensate for the lack of
duration of totality.
Columbia gets 2m36s at 1:12pm, and the path hits its third State
Capitol, on the banks of the mighty Missouri River, at 1:14:19pm.
Legislators returning from lunch will see a 2m29s total eclipse on
the steps of the Capitol building in Jefferson City.
Continuing on through the Show-Me State, the path crosses St.
Clair at 1:15:40pm (2m40s of totality). The southern part of St.
Louis lies in the path, but here is one of the greatest challenges
we face in getting as many people as possible to view this total
eclipse: Downtown St. Louis, the Arch, Busch stadium, and
Lambert airport, are NOT in the path! People
here need to get south or southwest in order to see totality, and
it will fall to the good people of Hillsboro (2m39s at 1:16:40pm),
DeSoto (2m40s at 1:16:46pm), Union (2m37s at 1:15:33pm), St. Clair
(2m40s at 1:15:40pm) and Festus (2m37s at 1:17pm), to host them!
These lucky towns get lots of time in the shadow!
If you stay in these very popular central and northern parts of
the city, you will not see totality. What you see may look cool to
you, but trust me - it will not compare to what people only a few
miles south of you will experience! Head south, and see totality!
Farmington (2m12s at 1:17:40pm) lies farther south, and Cape Girardeau only gets 1m38s of totality,
as it lies along the southern edge of the path. This occurs at
1:20:25pm.
Chicago is not in the path - not even close! The
far southern tip of the state is the only part that sees totality,
but it gets a lot! Murphysboro (2m40s at 1:19:30pm), Carbondale
(2m38s at 1:20pm) and Marion (2m28s at 1:20:40pm) are prime
viewing locations, but those are really the only places to
consider. Cairo, Springfield, Effingham and Mt. Vernon
are outside the path - no totality here!
And for those of you in Evansville, IN - so sorry, but this
eclipse just barely passes you by. (You'll get your turn at
totality in 2024!)
Illinois is also the state that has the most area of the overlap of the paths of
totality for Eclipse 2017 and Eclipse 2024!
Here is where it really gets interesting. Kentucky boasts the
longest period of totality of anywhere in the entire path! This
occurs at a spot just northwest of Hopkinsville, at 1:24pm - a
full 2m40s of totality! True, this isn't the longest eclipse on
record, but it's long enough! And this huge amount of totality is
enough of an incentive to consider this part of the world as your
preferred site for viewing the eclipse!
But first things first. The shadow passes over Paducah at 1:22pm,
and observers there will see 2m20s of totality. The Land Between
the Lakes is a wonderful spot to view the eclipse from, and the
farther north you are here, the better! Eddyville gets 2m39s at
1:23pm. After that, Hopkinsville lies right on the centerline, and
(as we said above) enjoys 2m40s of totality at 1:24:41pm.
Franklin (2m26s at 1:26:48pm) and Russellville (2m29s at 1:26pm)
are other good spots from which to see the shadow. Bowling Green lies in the path, but it is on
the northern edge, and folks here are advised to head to
Hopkinsville, or down I-65 into Tennessee.
Mammoth Cave and Murray are not in the path, and neither
are Louisville and Lexington. This show belongs to the
far southwestern part of the Commonwealth, and you are urged to
get there and be a part of it all!
Ah, Nashville. Home to the Grand Ol' Opry, and
mecca for country crooners worldwide. But on this day, the great
Capitol of Tennessee has a new claim to fame - a total eclipse!
That's right - after blocking out the sun for the fine citizens of
Clarksville (2m17s at 1:25pm - and don't forget about our
soldiers at Fort Campbell!), Springfield (2m36s at 1:26pm),
Portland (2m37s at 1:27), and Westmoreland (2m28 at 1:27), the
shadow pays a visit to the crown jewel of Country! It could be
better - Nashville lies close to the southern edge of the path, so
it doesn't get as much totality as we'd like, but all the city
limits, and most of the suburbs, will bask in the shadow!
Residents of Franklin and Kingston Springs will be left out of
totality, and Brentwood lies just inside the path, so people there
should head northeast. But, on the grounds of the State Capitol,
people will see 1m54s of totality at 1:27pm - a very respectable
eclipse! And, heading northeast to the grounds of the Grand Ol'
Opry, folks along beautiful Briley Parkway will see 2m13s (also at
1:27)!! If you're in Lebanon, you can stay put, because you'll
enjoy 2m24s of totality a minute later!
The rest areas on I-40, just west of the exit at Buffalo Valley,
are right on the centerline, by the way!
Murfreesboro is yet another of those nice, big towns that lie
right on the edge of the path. Sparta and Baxter lie right on the
centerline, so you might want to head out there to see the show!
Crossville (2m31s at 1:31pm) is the last larger town the path hits
within the Central Time Zone, and as the shadow hops the mighty
Tennessee River, residents of Dayton will experience 2m21s at
about the same time (except that there, it'll be 2:31pm!).
Residents of Cleveland,
beware! Your town is right on the southern edge of the path, and
you should consider hopping north to Athens or Sweetwater.
Residents of Chattanooga, ditto, except that if you stay
put, there'll be no show at all for you! Got that? Chattanooga is not in the path, and
neither is Knoxville! Well, the very far
southern suburbs of Knoxville are, but you won't get much
totality, and who wants that? I-75 south is your best friend -
take advantage of it! Here is a little more detailed map of
Knoxville. Everyone at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville
should hold class a few miles farther south, and enjoy the
eclipse!
We'll talk about the Great Smoky Mountains National Park down in
the section on North Carolina, but for now, suffice it to say that
Clingman's Dome would be a great place to see totality from!
We know, we know, the path hits North Carolina next, but we felt
like talking about Georgia first. Mainly, we wanted to say that Atlanta is not in the path of totality,
and this is a huge shame. So many people will be at work, when
they should have taken a long weekend, gotten themselves up north,
and into the path! I-85 seems to be the best route here, to get
people up into South Carolina where they can see the show. But
there are lots of other options: I-75 way north, or US19 or US23
up into TN or NC, will get you there. Whatever you folks in
Hot'Lanta do with yourselves on the big day, though, make the
eclipse a part of it!
So, where to see the eclipse from the Peach State? Well, the
centerline of the path just barely ticks the northeastern
corner of the state, and runs about 12 miles between the borders
of TN and SC. Clayton (2m34s at 2:35:45pm) is a nice county seat
close to the centerline, but Toccoa (only 2m2s of totality) is a
little bigger town. Don't think you're gonna see it from Athens,
though, or Gainesville, or Augusta - this isn't your eclipse,
guys! If you insist on staying within Georgia to see the eclipse,
I'd suggest Black Rock Mountain State Park! You'll see about 2m36s
of totality there.
Again, here is a state that will have only a fraction of its area
hit by the shadow - but what an area! The Great Smoky Mountains
National Park, or at least the western part of it, lies in
the path of totality! If you can't get to the Tetons, here is
perhaps just as wonderful a spot to watch the eclipse from! But
you have to be careful here - the whole park is not in totality,
and the park is so big, that it really depends on where you are as
to how much time you'll get in the shadow! We already talked about
Knoxville not getting totality - well, Gatlinburg is outside the
path completely! In fact, if you're east of that big north-south
road that cuts the park in two (is it 441 or 71?), then you won't
see any totality at all. Get as far west as you can, out to the
mountains in the western part of the park. On the southern edge,
Waynesville is a no-no - get farther west to Bryson City or even
farther west to Santeetlah Lake. You get the idea.
If National Parks and eclipse-watching don't go together for you,
then you can also see totality in Murphy (2m26s at 2:34pm) or
Franklin (2m30s at 2:35). Other than that, all we can say is that
Charlotte is not in the path! Get into SC, down to
Greenville or Columbia!
Oh yes, Asheville is also not in the path!
All good things must come to an end, and at 2:36:02pm, the shadow
of the great 2017 total eclipse first touches the final state in
its path. South Carolina also brings us the fifth state capitol to
be immersed in shadow, and several large cities will be able to
play host to eclipse-chasers from all over. Greenville is a very
large city, and it is fully in shadow by 2:38pm. Its sister city
of Spartanburg, however, is split by the path - you'll want to
head west, and enjoy Greenville's 2m14s of totality.
Greenwood (2m28s at 2:39) is next on the list of bigger cities to
see totality, and then Columbia is treated about two minutes
later. The Capitol Building gets just a hair under 2m30s, and
would be a great place for workers to take an afternoon
shadow-break!
Here
is a map of the Greenville-Spartanburg area, to show you what's
going on here.
Sumter lies in the path, as do big, beautiful lakes Marion and
Moutrie - right on the centerline!! Get out on the boat and soak
it in!
The last large city to see the 2017 eclipse will be Charleston. It
lies on the southern edge of the path, but because folks in Mt.
Pleasant will get over two minutes, Charlestonites should head
northeast!
The centerline then cuts across US17, just south of the last city
to see the shadow - McClellanville, SC. From there, the shadow
will take its leave of the last piece of American soil at
2:49:07.4pm. Quite appropriately, the spot is a long, isolated
beach on a barrier island at the tip of a Wildlife Preserve
- Cape Romain, just east of McClellanville.
Amazing, isn't it? The swath of the shadow will touch the United
States for only 1h 33m 16.8s - less than the length of a short
movie! But in that time, many, many people in our country will
have had their perceptions, and their lives, changed forever. It's
that kind of a sight. Please plan to be there, in the path,
together with a few hundred thousand other converts! You'll be
joining many thousands of your fellow citizens in asking "When's
the next one?"!
And that's it. From there, the shadow continues on, out over the
Atlantic Ocean, not to touch any more land before deftly lifting
off the earth's surface near Africa at just after 20:00UT. The
shadow, that excited so many people in our great country, will
continue out over open water for another hour and a half,
travelling farther over the great expanse of blue than it did over
our land. It will impress no more people in this part of its
journey, but it will have left in its wake a new generation of
eclipse-addicts, and a bevy of newly-fixed veteran junkies -- all
of whom will be hugging each other, replaying the spectacular
movie of totality in their minds, and promising themselves and
each other to be present for the next one -- no matter where, no
matter when.
(Just for the record, "the next one" will be on Tuesday, July 2,
2019. You can see it on land at sunset, from either Chile or
Argentina - wherever you want. But for me, it'll be my daughter's
twenty-first birthday, and she's got dibs on me -- I promised her
a South Pacific cruise to totality when she was six!)
The above is a nice narrative of the path from the shadow's point
of view, but what about us? What about the person who is standing
in one spot, waiting for the shadow to overtake and engulf them?
What will they see?
Well, we always tell people that seeing an eclipse is like having
children: If you don't have them, we'll never be able to explain
what it's like. And if you do, then we won't have to!
But that doesn't mean we won't try anyway...!
Weather
Leading up to
totality
First
Contact
If you're
not in the path
Partiality
deepens
Onset of Totality
After Totality
The Edge of Totality
(Note: We mention "filters" throughout this discussion. What
we're talking about is the special filter material that is made
specifically for viewing the sun through. This filter material
is made by several companies, and can be found in many different
forms - from eclipse glasses to sheets that can be cut
and made into customized filters for cameras, telescopes, and
binoculars, and solid glass filters for use with large
telescopes. If you are going to try to do anything more than buy
a couple of pairs of eclipse viewing glasses, then we would
suggest you visit some of the wonderful sites on the internet
that will show you some of the photographic and visual uses of
this amazing material! But do NOT try to improvise your own
material - ONLY use filter material that has been specifically
manufactured and sold as safe for direct solar viewing!)
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Oops! You're way north of the path! |
Well, that's 'cause you were in the wrong place. If you saw the
moon go over the top side of the sun, then you were too far south.
If it skirted the bottom part of the sun, then you should've been
farther south. People there got the show, and you didn't. And
there's no TIVO here, man - you missed it, and the moon ain't
gonna back up and give you any do-overs. That's all she wrote for
2017, and it's a long swim to get to the next one.
Now, if you're just outside the path, like maybe less than 100
miles or so, then you will experience "deep" partiality. The moon
will still track off-center, but at the time of maximum coverage,
lots of the sun will end up being covered by it. Now, it's
still not safe to look at without filters (!), but the
deeper the partiality you get, the more of the "eclipse" effects
you'll get to see. By that, we mean that you'll see (through
filters) a very thin sliver of the sun - the closer you are to the
path, the thinner the sliver you'll see. You'll also get to see
the sky darken a bit, and if you're really close to the
path, the overall eerieness of the quality of the light around you
will deepen, and you'll get that weird feeling that the light
isn't right, and that something very strange is going on around
you. But, that's it. That's all you'll get, and like your friends
who are still well outside the path, you'll also come away feeling
like you got robbed.
Partiality deepens
Let's say, then, that you've happily found your way into the path.
You don't have to be right on the centerline, but the closer to
the centerline you are, the more totality you'll get. Most eclipse
observers like to stay on or near the centerline, but there are
some who enjoy the "edge" effects you get by being just inside the
northern or southern path limits - more about them later. For now,
let's consider if you're in the middle half of the path, nearer
the centerline than you are to either edge. What happens then?
Well, you'll still see all the effects of deepening partiality.
You'll get the shrinking sliver of sun, which is kind of cool but
is not the real show. As the sliver thins, though, you get the
very weird atmosphere that surrounds an eclipse, which is very
difficult to describe. As the sliver of sun gets thinner and
thinner, the sky darkens a bit, and the light around you takes on
a weird, "clearer" quality. Everything seems sharper and clearer,
though darker. It's kind of like if you were squinting, and
everything seemed much clearer to you. It's very strange, and it's
a very powerful effect on your senses.
As partiality deepens, and the sliver of sun shrinks even more,
the sky get darker - very slowly, but noticeably darker. You don't
really see it happening, but you can tell it's changing and
getting darker. The shadows on the ground become very sharp, very
contrasty, and you feel like there's something wrong with your
eyes. At this point, some veteran eclipsers will put an eye patch
over one of their eyes, to get it dark-adapted so they can see
more detail in the corona during totality. Some people don't like
that idea, because they like to use both eyes to see totality, and
besides, wearing sunglasses during this darkening period probably
gets your pupils as open as they're gonna get. But many people do
it, so there must be something to it. We wouldn't recommend you do
it if this is your first eclipse.
The wind picks up a bit, and the temperature drops noticeably.
Birds roost, evening insects come out, and the world prepares for
sunset in the middle of the day....
Onset of Totality
Paritality deepens even more, and the atmosphere actually starts
to be a little scary. The sky gets deeper and deeper dark blue,
and the sliver gets thin enough that you can actually (through
your filters, remember?) start to see it shrinking as you watch
it. In the five minutes before totality, you can really get a feel
for how earth-shatteringly frightening this event must have been
to ancient people who had no idea what was going on. We can truly
believe that people could have been frightened to death! But not
us - the spectacle gets your heart beating fast, your mouth
watering for more, and your whole body trembling with excitement
that you're being swept along in a wonderful dance of the cosmos
that nothing is going to stop. But we're all too "modern" to allow
anything like this to affect us...emotionally, right? Don't you
believe it!
As the last bite of the sun slides away, things happen way too
fast to describe concisely. You simply cannot focus on every one
of the events that take place around you, so you have to pick the
few that seem the coolest to you. (There will be more eclipses,
after all, and in about 5 minutes you're going to be on the phone
making travel plans to see the next one!) The most important thing
going on is the actual sun up in the sky, but let's take a peek at
just a couple of other things first.
The sky surrounding the sun will grow very dark very quickly. In
real time, you will be able to see the deep blue turn to twilight
blue, and then to bluish-black. Stars and planets will pop out of
nowhere. Roosters will crow and insects will chirp as though night
is falling. If you look to the west, you'll see a beautiful black
curtain with hints of sunset-orange north and south of it, while
off to the east, the sky at the horizon is still rather light. On
the ground, your shadow will become impossibly clear and thin, and
then will vanish completely as the sun's light fades to about the
intensity of the full moon. In the last few seconds before
totality, that dull blackness you saw off to the west will
suddenly spring up out of the earth, and take over the whole sky
like a gigantic curtain being pulled over you - like that scene in
the original Disney Fantasia movie - only about a hundred times
faster. If you aren't focused on the sun at that time (like most
people will be), you'll be looking at the actual shadow of the
moon racing toward you at supersonic speed, covering you with its
blackness. If you see that, you're very lucky, because it happens
so fast. And besides, you'll probably be too awe-struck by what's
going on center stage...
As the last sliver of sun melts away, you will be able to see
several things happening simultanelously. You will now definitely
have the feeling that there are two bodies involved, because it is
impossible to miss the disk of the moon in these last seconds.
(You should still be watching through the filters, by the way.)
But while the last bit of the sliver is shrinking, the corona will
start to come out. The last little bit of the sun's light will
glare through valleys on the moon, and will create a "bead" effect
at the edge of the moon's disk. These are called "Baily's Beads",
and they are stunning. These will dance around a little, and then
will fade away as the very last one of them brightens into a huge
bead. Around the edge of the moon, the sun's corona will begin to
glow, giving us the famous "diamond ring" effect. It lasts for
only about 2-3 seconds, but it is stunning beyond words. Most
people will take their filters off at this point (though
technically, you're not supposed to look until the diamond ring is
totally gone, we're just saying that most people do it anyway).
You will see the corona burst into view as the diamond fades away,
appearing as though someone is smearing wispy-white cotton candy
all around the black hole that's been cut out of the fabric of the
blue-black sky. (We are convinced that the corona comes out while
the diamond is still blazing away, and it is a beautiful sight to
see.) There may be tongues of red fire visible around the edge of
the sun - these are solar prominences, and no one knows what they
will look like until they see them right along with you.
Someone will blow a whistle to signify that totality has
officially begun, and you can take your viewing glasses and all
your filters off, and stare away. If there's no whistle, then once
you can't see anything at all with your filters, take them off!
You will see nothing if you keep them on, and now, during
totality, they're not necessary! Keep them in your hand for when
totality is over, but use your eyes. Use your binoculars with
impunity. Don't look away if you can help it. The diamond is gone,
all the sun's light is blocked, and you're looking at the most
beautiful thing you're likely to ever see - the solar corona,
shimmering around the moon brilliantly (about as bright as the
full moon, actually). It will look to you as though someone has
painted the sky a deep blue-black, has cut an impossibly-black
hole in it with a pair of scissors, and then smeared radiant,
glowing, shimmering cotton candy around that hole. No picture in
the world can do justice to the sight you have before you, and you
will want to etch it in your memory forever. Ten years from now,
you'll still be able to imagine the sight in your mind - so burn
it in there now, while you can. Listen to the people around you
scream and yell and hoot and holler and yell "Oh My God" and do
whetever else it is they do when there's nothing else to do but
blither like a mad fool. Look and enjoy the gift you've been
given.
If you have a second to look away, look at the horizon all around
you. It will be the orange of a sunset, all the way around the
whole horizon! You are in the middle of the circle of shadow that
the moon has projected onto the surface of the earth, and all
around you at the horizon, the eclipse is not total! You're seeing
the sunset effects of the sun's light from a hundred miles away or
so, all around you! It will be too dark for you to see anything
close at hand, but remember NO flashlights, NO flash pictures
(they won't come out, and you'll ruin the scientists' pictures).
Just stand there and enjoy it. Hoot and holler all you want. Talk
to the sun. Thank it for its gift in your own special way. After
all, whatever craziness happens in the shadow, stays in the
shadow.
After the initial cheers from the crowd, the atmosphere will
settle a little, and you'll be tempted to look away. This is the
stage where you have to remember that you're only going to get
this show for a minute or two, and you have to record it in your
mind in order to keep it forever. NO pictures will ever do it
justice, so whatever you store in your brain is what you're going
to be left with. Enjoy it, and immerse yourself in it.
You'll know when totality is finally coming to an end, because the
western sky will brighten dramatically. The shadow is racing along
to the next group of eagerly-awaiting victims to the east, and
your time is sadly coming to an end. The right side of the sun's
black disk will brighten a little, you may see prominences again,
and some people will plaintively yell "no, please don't go away".
Just like that, the corona will dim, the diamond ring will flash
into view on the right side of the sun's disk (and it's time again
for your filters), the whistle will blow, the beads will come
back, and it will be over. Totality is gone for you, and you will
desperately want it to not be gone. Your brain will be frantically
filing away the memories of what you've just seen, and your body
will be weak from the adrenaline crash that now comes over you.
Everyone will cheer like idiots. The shadows will come back, the
sky will brighten, and the sliver of sun will majestically return.
This is third contact - the end of totality - and you've just
joined the very select, very small percentage of humans who have
witnessed a total eclipse. Congratulations!
After Totality
We believe this is the most anticlimactic feeling a person can
have in life. In under two hours, you've been built up so much by
the events that have overtaken your senses, and you've just
experienced a hundred-second orgasm of amazement with a few
hundred of your new comrades in eclipsedom, only to be dropped
like a rock in the ocean while the moon marches on across the face
of the sun. There is no more show to be had, and nothing you can
do to see it again until the next one comes around in a year or
so, in some far-off corner of the planet. After the spectacle of
totality, the views of the waxing crescent sun that are still
there for the viewing will seem silly to you, and you'll likely
just want to go relax somewhere with friends and a favorite
beverage or two. Later that night, you'll see pictures on the
news. The next day, you'll see pictures in the paper, and you
won't believe those pictures are of the same thing you saw. That's
how bad pictures are! You'll smile, because you will have the
memory of your most perfect view of the glory of a
total eclipse, and that can never be taken away from you.
Traffic driving away from your viewing location may be tight, so
you could simply plan on staying right where you are for a time.
You might want to take a bit of the dirt that was around your
feet, and save it in a film canister or a baggie as a memento of
something that physically shared your experience. But you will
feel a curious mix of letdown and exhilaration and pride and
withdrawal. You will feel like you've shared something intimate
and erotic with all the people around you, while at the same time
something so personal, you're scared to try and describe it lest
it escape your memory as you release the descriptive words from
your mouth. Please though, come back to this site and share your
experiences with us - we want to share them with the world!
The Edge of Totality
There are those who like to be near the edge of totality.
Before we talk about them, let us be very clear - if this is your
first eclipse, you would do much better to try and station
yourself near the centerline, in order to maximize your experience
of totality. But some eclipse veterans feel strongly that
the tradeoff of less time in the shadow near the edge is more than
compensated for by the intensity and splendor of the changing
effects they see "out there". It is true that you will see
more chromosphere - that thin band of deep, beautiful red that
hugs the solar disk - near the edge than at the centerline.
(In fact, it has been said that at the edge, you get chromosphere
for the entire duration of totality, whereas near the centerline,
you only get it for a few seconds at the onset and end of
totality.) You will also see the effects of Baily's Beads,
as thin slivers of sunlight dance in and out of lunar mountains
and valleys along the edge. One of the most valuable things
amateurs can do at the edge, in fact, is to accurately (within
tenths of a second) record on video those effects, so that the
lunar limb profile can be more accurately mapped. If you
wish to do this, you need to have a very high-resolution camera, a
very accurate fix on your latitude and longitude (use a good GPS),
and a time signal that has been checked to be within a half-second
or so of actual UT (synch with the WWV signal or time.gov, and
make sure you're recording the time stamp or audible signal as
well). If that sounds like a lot of work, it is! We
will be coordinating some efforts to perform these activities
along the path edge in a couple of cities, and if you'd like to
participate, please let us
know!
*To be continued*
*For a discussion of UT, see this site. The quick and dirty of it is that whenever you see
"UT", take the time you see, and:
subtract 4 hours if you're in the Eastern Time Zone
subtract 5 hours if you're in the Central Time Zone
subtract 6 hours if you're in the Mountain Time Zone
subtract 7 hours if you're in the Pacific Time Zone
(assuming Daylight Saving Time)
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