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The Big American Solar Eclipse of 2017
Are you curious why this solar eclipse is such a big deal?
Not sure if you should be excited or not to see it?
Well, after doing some research I found out that it is worth making a big deal out of it and sharing the experience with your family and friends. One big fact,this is the first time since 1257 that a solar eclipse has only traveled directly above the land of where America is today! Or, that this is the first time since 1918 that a solar eclipse went over all of America and 1979 was the last time a total solar eclipse went over any part of mainland America. Most people who will read this either were not born in 1979 or were not living anywhere near this event, so yes it is a big deal.
When
August 21st, 2017 starting at 9:06 am PST and ending at 4:06 pm EST
Path of Travel
The solar eclipse will travel from the West Coast to the East Coast of the United states and will start on the coast of Oregon and then travel across the United States and end in South Carolina. A total Solar Eclipse will be seen if you are standing inside of a 70 mile wide corridor directly beneath the path. I will include a link below to help you find out if you are in the direct path.
The path of the direct solar eclipse will go over:
- Oregon
- Idaho
- Wyoming
- Montana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- Missouri
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
How Long will the Total Solar Eclipse Last?
It all depends on where you are standing and the longest eclipse duration will be 2 minutes and 41.6 seconds in Giant City Park near Carbondale Illinois.
What if I Don’t Live In or Near or the Path?
Don’t fret too much as you can see the eclipse, just not a full one! A partial solar eclipse will be visible anywhere in North and Central America, Northern part of South America, parts of Western Europe, some of Africa and even parts of North East Asia.
Viewing the Eclipse Safely!
DO NOT LOOK AT THE ECLIPSE WITHOUT PROPER EYE PROTECTION!
To safely view the Eclipse, you must be wearing special glasses or equipment! You will be looking for glasses or equipment that are ISO 12312-2 compliant and are sold by a reputable brand and dealer. It is very important that you only use this equipment as sunglasses will not be dark enough or able to shield your eyes enough. To put it in perspective, a welding helmet is also a safe and viable option to view the eclipse through.
According to NASA, it is safe to view the Total Eclipse safely without glasses, but any part of a partial solar eclipse should only be viewed with Eclipse Glasses – thus wear your glasses the whole time as the total eclipse may only last a few seconds!
Here are some links to Amazon where you can still buy the eclipse safety equipment! Click Here to Browse
Here is a link to the NASA website dedicated to the Great Solar Eclipse by Clicking Here
Share your stories about your experience with the solar eclipse with us!
