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It's a rare event to see any eclipse but a total solar eclipse is something truly remarkable. I've never seen one but I am traveling to Carbondale in southern Illinois to see it (and visit my 89 year old aunt). Carbondale is suppose to have the longest duration of totality for this event but it will cross right through the heart of the USA. If you are near the path of totality you may want to start planning a spot to see it (with appropriate eye wear). There's lots of event going all over the country. NASA will be at southern Illinois university that weekend and have an event in the stadium during the eclipse. Hopefully it's clear skies. You can check out information and the map here:
This is not the first total solar eclipse visible from CONUS in a century.
The solar eclipse of 1979 was total from Washington/Oregon through northwestern North Dakota. Solar eclipses in 1970 and 1963 were also total in parts of the lower 48. And coming up in 2024 and 2045 there will be total eclipses that cross CONUS.
I've seen enough eclipses - solar and lunar - to be more impressed by the hype and attempts to sell schlock than the event itself. Discover Magazine in particular seems to be plotzing and hyperventilating in attempts to take advantage of the marketing opportunities. It is an embarrassment to the publisher (who also owns Astronomy Magazine).
I'm ready for it. A total eclipse is a sight to see. I'm in the Mid-Willamette Valley in Oregon. Last time I saw such an event was in the early 1970's. We were just a hair off the edge of the totality. There was a thin sliver of the sun at the peak, but things still got weirdly dark. More like very dusky. People have said that livestock, poultry and other animals usually start bedding down. Our goats, cats and poultry didn't seem all that disturbed by it, although our dogs started running around barking. The view of the change from daylight to eclipse seemed like seeing it somewhat in jumping waves. I think that may have been due to the eyes blinking as it got darker.
If you are near the path of totality you may want to start planning a spot to see it (with appropriate eye wear).
On the subject of appropriate eyewear: a lot of cheap Chinese knockoff eclipse glasses which may not be safe are being sold on Amazon. Make sure you get the real thing! Or use a pinhole camera or projection technique to indirectly observe the partial phases of the eclipse. (Totality can be - and must be - safely viewed without eye protection.)
In the past I have always been in the wrong place at the wrong time to view a total eclipse. So this time I will be watching either from Lincoln Beach or Madras Oregon, or some point in between, depending on weather and traffic conditions.
In the past I have always been in the wrong place at the wrong time to view a total eclipse. So this time I will be watching either from Lincoln Beach or Madras Oregon, or some point in between, depending on weather and traffic conditions.
If you're going to be in Madras, you'll be really close to the center of the totality zone and will give you 100% obscurity. Even if someone were a sliver off from the totality, such as Portland or Eugene, it will still be a strange and unforgettable experience. I can better understand why ancient people experiencing a total eclipse, and didn't understand what was happening, may have thought it was a fearsome omen of doom, something that swallowed up the sun during daytime.
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