Eclipse2017.org has been established to provide information to news media, elected officials, school administrators and teachers, and the general public as to exactly how to view the magnificent total eclipse of the sun in 2017!

Maintained by Dan McGlaun (a veteran of ten total solar eclipses), this site will grow to hopefully become one of the main places on the web to go for information and late breaking news of events surrounding the eclipse!

The Great American Eclipse!

Take the day off work / school / whatever!
Get yourself into the path!

 

Animation of the shadow across the United States. The little black dot must pass directly over you, in order for you to see totality!

(Notice how the path touches no land except for the mainland United States?  That is much rarer than you might think!)

we would encourage everyone to please read all the information you can on this site first (especially "What is an Eclipse?"), so you can get a feel for what's going to happen. Other great information is contained on the links below. Truly, this is an event not to be missed, and it is our hope that every person - but especially every American - who is capable of getting into the path will enjoy this wonderful treat!

Select location by State

Download a program that will simulate the eclipse for you from ANY location in the US

See interactive Google Map

(Be patient! Takes a minute to load...)

If you read nothing else about the eclipse, please read this long rant, and check out the maps so you can see how close to your home the eclipse path comes. Let me explain. The basics of a total eclipse are that the moon goes in between the sun and the earth, and as the moon 'moves' across the face of the sun, its very thin shadow passes along a "path" on the ground. (This is represented by the little black dot in the animation above.) You have to be in that path in order to see the "total" eclipse. If you're outside it, you'll get to see a partial eclipse (boring!) -- and if you're just barely outside the path, you'll see a very deep partial eclipse -- but even that is not anything you'd even want to leave your desk at work to see!

Go here to see an animation program we put together that shows what you can expect to see from various locations in the US.

We cannot stress this enough - if you're in the path, you see what is perhaps one of the most phenomenal sights that human eyes can convey to a brain! If you're not in the path, even by only a mile or so (!!!!!), you will come away wondering what in the heck we even bothered to make this site for! And you will have completely missed the whole show. People fly to the remotest deserts, jungles, islands -- frozen, desolate, and mosquito-infested places - just to be in the path of a total eclipse. So please, please, please: walk, run, fly, drive, hike, roll, thumb, or cycle yourself into the path on eclipse day, and you will not regret it! Miss it, and you'll have to wait till the next one (in 2024). Take it from us - do not think that you're "close enough" to the path to see something cool. Look at the maps, and if where you are isn't in the dark band (and as close to the blue centerline as possible), please please get yourself there by whatever means are necessary! Even if it's 300 miles or more! People will come from all over the world to see this grand spectacle, and you already live right here! You will thank us thousands of times over for having talked you into it, and you will thank whatever it is you believe in that you got to see what you saw while standing in the shadow.

Please take it from me - I've kissed the Blarney Stone, and seen the Grand Canyon, Victoria Falls, Ayers Rock, the Berlin Wall, the Great Wall, the Taj Mahal, the West Edmonton Mall, the Pyramids in Egypt, the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Stonehenge, the giant Sequoia Trees, Death Valley, the Panama Canal, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Meteor Crater, Yellowstone, the North Pole, the Midnight Sun over the Arctic Ocean, Shakespeare's grave, the Alps in Switzerland, the Grand Mosque in Istanbul, the geysers in Iceland, the Sydney Opera House, the Eiffel tower, the CN tower, Sydney Tower, Shanghai Tower, the Ring at Bayreuth and the Met, the Berlin Philharmonic, and my kids being born -- and I'm not kidding:  A total eclipse is a spectacle to rival them all!

Get thee to the path....

Over the next few years, we'll be posting information for school teachers and administrators, the media, and public officials, dealing with the logistics of handling the people who may be converging on your community to see the eclipse. Eclipse parties are definitely in order, and many communities will want to set up official viewing areas. We will help you do this, including contacting experts who might make themselves available for consulting, speeches, or educational opportunities in your community. You will find the eclipse-chasing community to be one of intelligent, down-to-earth, concerned individuals who will help you in any way they can, and will always be available for questions and suggestions!

There is a lot of good information already out there on eclipses in general.  Please see the links to learn more about eclipses,
and then return here for more information specific to the 2017 eclipse!

Cities in the path - how much totality will you see?
Cities not in the path - Get out! Get to the path!!!!
Description of the path's travels over the U.S.
Where should you be? A state by state guide
Animations and a description of what you'll see and how to view
What if you miss this one?
Photographing the eclipse