The Great American Eclipse

 August 21, 2017 - Adventure Log

-- Edited as time passed away like the shadow of the Moon --

The Great American Eclipse 

Today, August 21, 2017, A total solar eclipse, one of Earth's most extraordinary astronomical phenomenons ever, is going to happen. The Moon will pass between the Earth and the Sun and the United States of America will be treated to its first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in nearly 100 years. It is also the first total eclipse exclusive to the U.S. since before the nation's founding. From Oregon to South Carolina, the eclipse will sweep a 67-mile-wide shadow path of totality across the country and millions will witness the Moon passing between the Earth and the Sun and day turning to night for up to almost three minutes.

I am taking my Boys and Father...3 generations of 5 Smith Men to the Observatory in Huntsville, Texas to witness this wonderful event. [Update Picture Added] "The Great American Eclipse" was a total solar eclipse visible within a band that spanned the contiguous United States from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts. The air became noticeably cooler and crickets began to chirp. Tap Here for the Media I have collected.

Prior to this event, no solar eclipse had been visible across the entirety of the United States since June 8, 1918; not since the February 1979 eclipse had a total eclipse been visible from anywhere in the mainland United States. The path of totality touched 14 states, and the rest of the U.S. had a partial eclipse. The area of the path of totality was about 16 percent of the area of the United States, with most of this area over the ocean, not land. The Shadow crossed 14 of the contiguous United States:  Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.  The event's shadow began to cover land on the Oregon coast as a partial eclipse at 4:05 p.m. UTC(9:05 a.m. PDT), with the total eclipse beginning there at 5:16 p.m. UTC (10:16 a.m. PDT); the total eclipse's land coverage ended along the South Carolina coast at about 6:44 p.m. UTC (2:44 p.m. EDT).

The next total solar eclipse in the U.S. will occur on April 8, 2024, traveling through the country from Texas to Maine. In some ways, the 2024 eclipse promises to be even more spectacular than in 2017, crossing over or coming close to more major cities and with a maximum duration of totality that's almost two minutes longer!

At one location in Wyoming, a small group of astronomers used telescopic lenses to photograph the sun as it was in partial eclipse, while the International Space Station was also seen to briefly transit the sun. Similar images were captured by NASA from a location in Washington.

Visit NASA's Total Solar Eclipse Dedication website:

https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov

See You in 2024!