The solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 was a total eclipse visible within a band across the entire contiguous United States, passing from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts. As a partial solar eclipse, it was visible on land from Nunavut in northern Canada to as far south as northern South America. In northwestern Europe and Africa, it was partially visible in the late evening. In Asia it was visible only at the eastern extremity, the Chukchi Peninsula.
Prior to this event, no solar eclipse had been visible across the entire contiguous 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 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). Visibility as a partial eclipse in Honolulu, Hawaii began with sunrise at 4:20 p.m. UTC (6:20 a.m. HST) and ended by 5:25 p.m. UTC (7:25 a.m. HST).
This total solar eclipse marked the first such event in the smartphone and social media era in America. Information, personal communication, and photography were widely available as never before, capturing popular attention and enhancing the social experience.
Logistical problems were expected with the influx of visitors, especially for smaller communities. The sale of counterfeit eclipse glasses was also anticipated to be a hazard for eye injuries.
Future total solar eclipses will cross the United States in April 2024 (12 states) and August 2045 (10 states), and annular solar eclipses--wherein the Moon appears smaller than the Sun--will occur in October 2023 (9 states) and June 2048 (9 states).
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Visibility
The total eclipse had a magnitude of 1.0306 and was visible within a narrow corridor 70 miles (110 km) wide, crossing fourteen of the contiguous United States: Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. It was first seen from land in the U.S. shortly after 10:15 a.m. PDT (17:15 UTC) at Oregon's Pacific coast, and then it progressed eastward through Salem, Oregon; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Casper, Wyoming; Lincoln, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; Hopkinsville, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; Columbia, South Carolina about 2:41 p.m.; and finally Charleston, South Carolina. A partial eclipse was seen for a greater time period, beginning shortly after 9:00 a.m. PDT along the Pacific Coast of Oregon. Weather forecasts predicted clear skies in Western U.S. and some Eastern states, but clouds in the Midwest and East Coast.
The longest ground duration of totality was 2 minutes 41.6 seconds at about 37°35?0?N 89°7?0?W in Giant City State Park, just south of Carbondale, Illinois, and the greatest extent (width) was at 36°58?0?N 87°40?18?W near the village of Cerulean, Kentucky, located in between Hopkinsville and Princeton. This was the first total solar eclipse visible from the Southeastern United States since the solar eclipse of March 7, 1970. Two NASA WB-57F flew above the clouds, prolonging the observation time spent in the umbra. A partial solar eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon's penumbra, including all of North America, particularly areas just south of the totality pass, where the eclipse lasted about 3-5 hours, northern South America, Western Europe, and some of Africa and north-east Asia.
Next Total Solar Eclipse In North America Video
Other eclipses over the United States
This was the first total solar eclipse visible from the United States since that of July 11, 1991--which was seen only from part of Hawaii--and the first visible from the contiguous United States since 1979. An eclipse of comparable length (up to 3 minutes, 8 seconds, with the longest eclipse being 6 minutes and 54 seconds) occurred over the contiguous United States on March 7, 1970 along the southern portions of the Eastern Seaboard, from Florida to Virginia.
The path of totality of the solar eclipse of February 26, 1979 crossed only the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota. Many enthusiasts traveled to the Pacific Northwest to view the eclipse, since it would be the last chance to view such an eclipse in the contiguous United States for almost four decades.
Some American scientists and interested amateurs who wanted to experience a total eclipse participated in a four-day Atlantic Ocean cruise to view the solar eclipse of July 10, 1972 as it passed near Nova Scotia. (This is referenced in the Carly Simon hit song "You're So Vain" in the lyric, "Then you flew your Lear Jet up to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse of the Sun.") Organizers of the cruise advertised in astronomical journals and in planetarium announcements, emphasizing the rarity of the event.
The August 2017 eclipse was the first with a path of totality crossing the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the U.S. since 1918. Also, its path of totality made landfall exclusively within the United States, making it the first such eclipse since the country's declaration of independence in 1776. Prior to this, the path of totality of the eclipse of June 13, 1257, was the last to make landfall exclusively on lands currently part of the United States.
The path of the 2017 eclipse crosses with the path of the upcoming total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, with the intersection of the two paths being in southern Illinois in Makanda Township at Cedar Lake, just south of Carbondale. An area of about 9,000 square miles, including the cities of Makanda, Carbondale, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and Paducah, Kentucky, will thus experience two total solar eclipses within a span of less than seven years. The cities of Benton, Carbondale, Chester, Harrisburg, Marion, and Metropolis in Illinois; Cape Girardeau, Farmington, and Perryville in Missouri, as well as Paducah, Kentucky, will also be in the path of the 2024 eclipse, thereby earning the distinction of witnessing two total solar eclipses in seven years.
The solar eclipse of August 12, 2045 will have a very similar path of totality over the U.S. to the 2017 eclipse: about 400 km (250 mi) to the southwest, also crossing the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the country; however, totality will be more than twice as long.
Total eclipse viewing events
California
- Oakland - A viewing party was held at the Chabot Space and Science Center.
Oregon
- Corvallis - The Corvallis campus of Oregon State University hosted "OSU150 Space Grant Festival: A Total Eclipse Experience", a weekend-long celebration of the eclipse. A watch party was also hosted on campus the day of the eclipse.
- Keizer - The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, a Class A baseball team, played a morning game against the visiting Hillsboro Hops that featured the first ever "eclipse delay" in baseball history.
- Madras - The city sponsored a four-day Solarfest at two locations.
- Prineville - Symbiosis Gathering hosted a global eclipse gathering dubbed Oregon Eclipse.
- Rickreall - The Polk County Fairgrounds organized a series of events and an eclipse gathering.
- Salem - The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry hosted an event at the Oregon State Fairgrounds.
Idaho
- Craters of the Moon - The National Monument and Preserve hosted NASA presentations, evening star parties hosted by the Idaho Falls Astronomical Society, high altitude balloon launches by the USC Astronautical Engineering department and NASA, and presentations by the New Mexico Chapter of the Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project.
- Idaho Falls - Free entertainment and educational seminars and an eclipse-watching event at the Museum of Idaho (an official NASA viewing site) and elsewhere, and a free eclipse-watching event at Melaleuca Field.
- Rexburg - Brigham Young University Idaho offered a series of eclipse-related educational events.
- Weiser - The city sponsored a five-day festival prior to the eclipse.
Wyoming
- Casper - The Astronomical League, an alliance of amateur astronomy clubs, held its annual Astrocon conference, and there were other public events, called Wyoming Eclipse Festival 2017.
- Fort Laramie - Fort Laramie held an eclipse viewing event, which included a Special "Great American Eclipse" Program.
Nebraska
- Alliance - Entertainment and educational seminars were offered.
- Auburn - Nemaha County Hospital hosted an eclipse viewing event, including sharing safety tips from Lifetime Vision Center.
- Grand Island - Stuhr Museum hosted an eclipse viewing event, including the launch of a NASA eclipse observing balloon.
- Beatrice - Homestead National Monument of America - Events with NASA Saturday, Sunday and the day of the eclipse homestead events page
- Lincoln - At Haymarket Park, the Lincoln Saltdogs, an independent baseball team in the American Association, defeated the Gary SouthShore RailCats 8-5 in a special eclipse game, with 6,956 in attendance. The game was paused for 26 minutes in the middle of the third inning to observe the eclipse. The Saltdogs players wore special eclipse-themed uniforms that were auctioned off after the game.
Missouri
- St. Louis - David Tipper hosted his Tipper & Friends 4321 electronic music event at Astral Valley Art Park featuring 5 days of music, art, and eclipse viewing.
- Kansas City - A 5-mile (8 km) bicycle ride from downtown KCMO (where totality only lasted about 30 seconds) to Macken Park in North Kansas City (where totality lasted 1 minute 13 seconds) was organized by KC Pedal Party Club, a local Meetup group.
- Columbia - The Cosmo Park and the Gans Creek Park were open for the eclipse. There was a watch party on campus for the students of the University of Missouri, and the MU Health Care system released eye safety information.
- Lathrop - The city celebrated its 150th anniversary with an eclipse festival.
- Parkville - TotalEclipseofthePark - August 20 educational program featuring NASA Glenn Research Center Hall of Famer Lynn Bondurant, '61, and August 21 watch party organized by Park University.
- St. Clair - An event organized by the St. Clair City Chamber of Commerce.
- St. Joseph - An event organized by Front Page Science was held at Rosecrans Memorial Airport.
Illinois
- Carbondale - Southern Illinois University sponsored many eclipse related educational events, including the two day Crossroads Astronomy, Science and Technology Expo, and viewing at Saluki Stadium. Amtrak ran a special train, the Eclipse Express, from Chicago to Carbondale. NASA EDGE was there broadcasting live from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with a four-hour and thirty-minute show (11:45 a.m. - 4:15 p.m. EDT).
- Carterville - A three-day rock festival called Moonstock was headlined by Ozzy Osbourne, who performed during the eclipse.
- Goreville - View the eclipse with the University of Illinois Astronomy Department.
Kansas
- Atchison - Benedictine College hosted thousands in its football stadium. There were students from schools from Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma attending, plus numerous other guests who heard from, amongst others, astronomers from the Vatican Observatory.
Kentucky
- Bowling Green - Western Kentucky University hosted thousands of K-12 students in its football stadium. At Bowling Green Ballpark, the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a Class A baseball team, played an eclipse game against the visiting West Michigan Whitecaps.
- Hopkinsville - A four-day eclipse festival was held at Jefferson Davis State Historic Site.
Tennessee
- Athens - The City of Athens hosted "Total Eclipse of the Park" at Athens Regional Park, including entertainment, food, and vendors.
- Clarksville - Austin Peay State University presented several educational events, including an appearance by astronaut Rhea Seddon.
- Cookeville - Tennessee Technological University hosted a solar eclipse viewing party at Tucker Stadium. Cookeville hosted special events Saturday-Monday.
- McMinnville - celebrated the eclipse by hosting BLACKOUT 2017, an eclipse viewing event held in the city square. In addition to the viewing, a selection of food trucks and musical acts which features The Pink Floyd Appreciation Society band who performed Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety prior to the totality event.
- Memphis - At AutoZone Park, the Memphis Redbirds, a Class AAA baseball team, played an eclipse game against the visiting New Orleans Baby Cakes.
- Nashville - offered many special events, including the Music City Eclipse Science & Technology Festival at the Adventure Science Center. The Italian Lights Festival hosted the largest Eclipse Viewing Party in Nashville, a free NASA-Certified Eclipse Event held at the Bicentennial Mall. Two astrophysicists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory emceed the countdown.
North Carolina
- Bryson City - Planetarium shows were offered, as well as rides on the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad to an eclipse location.
- Cullowhee - The eclipse was visible in totality, and classes were cancelled for several hours during the first day of classes at Western Carolina University.
- Rosman - Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) hosted a viewing event. The event at PARI has garnered international attention and the visitors included amateur astronomers.
Georgia
- Athens - Viewing at Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia.
- Blairsville - Get off the Grid Festival on three days preceding the eclipse.
South Carolina
- Anderson - Viewing at the Green Pond Landing on Lake Hartwell with food trucks, astronomer, and music. Unfortunately clouds blocked the sun at the time of totality.
- Charleston - The College of Charleston hosted NASA's "eclipse headquarters" broadcast as part of an afternoon eclipse viewing celebration on the green behind the campus library.
- Clemson - Viewing at Clemson University.
- Columbia - The South Carolina State Museum hosted four days of educational events, including an appearance by Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke. At Spirit Communications Park, the Columbia Fireflies, a Class A baseball team, played an eclipse game against the visiting Rome Braves.
- Greenville - Viewing at Furman University. Events include streaming coverage from NASA, educational activities, and live music. At Fluor Field, the Greenville Drive, a Class A baseball team, played an eclipse game against the visiting West Virginia Power.
- Sumter - Viewing at Dillon Park. Eclipse viewing glasses given away for free.
Viewing from outside the United States
Canada
A partial eclipse was visible across the width of Canada, ranging from 89 percent in Victoria, British Columbia to 11 percent in Resolute, Nunavut. In Toronto, viewing parties were held at the CNE and the Ontario Science Centre
Mexico, Central America, Caribbean islands, South America
A partial eclipse was visible from Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean islands, and ships and aircraft in and above the adjacent oceans, as well as the northern countries of South America such as Colombia, Venezuela, and several others.
Russia
A partial eclipse was visible only in the Chukchi Peninsula. In Anadyr, the maximum obscuration was 27,82%.
West Africa
In some locations in West Africa and western North Africa, a partial eclipse was seen just before and during sunset.
Europe
In northwestern Europe, the eclipse was only visible partially, in the evening or at sunset. Only those in Iceland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Portuguese Azores archipelago saw the eclipse from beginning to end; in the rest of the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, and Portugal, sunset occurred before the end of the eclipse. In Germany, the beginning of the eclipse was visible just at sunset only in the extreme northwest of the country. In all regions east of the orange line in the map, the eclipse was not visible.
Media and scientific coverage
A large number of media outlets broadcast coverage of the eclipse, including television and internet outlets. NASA announced plans to offer streaming coverage through its NASA TV and NASA Edge outlets, using cameras stationed on the ground along the path of totality, along with cameras on high-altitude balloons, jets, and coverage from the International Space Station; NASA stated that "never before will a celestial event be viewed by so many and explored from so many vantage points--from space, from the air, and from the ground." ABC, CBS, and NBC announced that they would respectively broadcast live television specials to cover the eclipse with correspondents stationed across the path of totality, along with CNN, Fox News Channel, Science, and The Weather Channel. The PBS series Nova presented streaming coverage on Facebook hosted by Miles O'Brien, and aired a special episode chronicling the event--"Eclipse Over America"--later in the day (which marked the fastest production turnaround time in Nova history).
Other institutions and services also announced plans to stream their perspectives of the eclipse, including the Exploratorium in San Francisco, the Elephant Sanctuary of Hohenwald, Tennessee, the Slooh robotic telescope app, and The Virtual Telescope Project. The Eclipse Ballooning Project, a consortium of schools and colleges that sent 50 high-altitude balloons into the sky during the eclipse to conduct experiments, provided streams of footage and GPS tracking of its launches. Contact with one balloon with $13,000 of scientific equipment, launched under the aegis of the LGF Museum of Natural History near Vale, Oregon, was lost at 20,000 feet (6,100 m) Given that the balloon was believed to have burst at 100,000 feet (30,000 m) it could have parachuted down anywhere from eastern Oregon to Caldwell, Idaho (most likely) to Sun Valley, Idaho; a $1,000 reward is offered for its recovery.
The National Solar Observatory organized Citizen CATE volunteers to man 60 identical telescopes and instrumentation packages along the totality path to study changes in the corona over the duration of the eclipse.
In orbit, the satellites Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the International Space Station, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, and Hinode gathered data from the eclipse.
A viewing party was held at the White House, during which President Donald Trump appeared on the Truman Balcony with First Lady Melania Trump. With the sun partially eclipsed, President Trump looked briefly in the general direction of the sun before using solar viewing glasses.
The rapper Joey Badass boasted of watching the solar eclipse without viewing glasses, considering that "our ancestors ain't have no fancy eyewear [and] they ain't all go blind". Unlike the US president, he did not wear viewing glasses during the entire eclipse. Later, he complained of vision problems and had to cancel his Cleveland, Chicago & Toronto shows on the Everybody Tour, due to "unforeseen circumstances".
The eclipse generated reports of abnormal behavior in animal and plant life. Some farm animals including domestic chickens came out from under their coops and began grooming, usually an evening activity. Horses also displayed increased whinnying, running, and jumping after the event. Cicadas were reported to grow louder before going silent during totality. Various birds were also observed flying in unusually large formations. Flowers such as the Hibiscus closed their petals which typically happens at night, before opening again after the solar event.
NASA reported over 90 million page views of the eclipse on its websites, making it the agency's biggest online event ever, beating the previous web traffic record about seven times over.
Counterfeit eclipse glasses
In the months leading to the eclipse, there were many counterfeits of light-filtering glasses for eclipse viewing. The user should see little through genuine eclipse glasses except for the Sun, sunglint reflected off shiny metal, halogen bulbs, and similar intense sources. However, effective eclipse glasses must UV and infrared, as well as visible light. The eye's retina lacks pain receptors, and thus damage can occur without one's awareness.
The American Astronomical Society (AAS) said products meeting the ISO 12312-2 standard avoid risk to one's eyes, and issued a list of reputable vendors of eclipse glasses. The organization warned against products claiming ISO certification, or even citing the same standard number, but not tested by an accredited laboratory, or those bearing incomplete certification information. Another problem was counterfeits of reputable vendors' products, some even claiming the company's name such as with American Paper Optics which published information detailing the differences between its glasses and counterfeits.
The AAS said that determining whether eclipse lenses were safe required a spectrophotometer.
Andrew Lund, the owner of a company which produces eclipse glasses, noted that not all counterfeit glasses were necessarily unsafe. He stated to Quartz that the counterfeits he tested blocked the majority of harmful light spectrum, concluding that "the IP is getting ripped off, but the good news is there are no long-term harmful effects." As one example, the Springdale Library in metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, accidentally passed out dozens of pairs of counterfeit eclipse glasses, but as of August 23 had not received any reports of eye damage.
On July 27, 2017, Amazon required all eclipse viewing products sold on its website have a submission of origin and safety information, and proof of an accredited ISO certification. In mid-August 2017, Amazon recalled and pulled listings for eclipse viewing glasses that "may not comply with industry standards", and gave refunds to customers who had purchased them.
Eye damage
Short-term damage includes solar keratitis, which is similar to sunburn of the cornea. Symptoms usually occur within twenty-four hours and include eye pain and light sensitivity.
Long-term or permanent damage includes solar retinopathy, which occurs when the sun burns a hole in the retina, usually at the fovea (the focus of the retina). Symptoms can occur as long as several weeks after the incident, and can include loss of central vision and/or other vision, as well as eye pain and light sensitivity, afterimages, and changes in color vision.
Depending on the severity of damage, vision problems can last for several months or be permanent.
Dr. Avnish Deobhakta, an ophthalmologist in New York, states that, ""If you're looking at the sun you're actually focusing, intentionally, the light of the sun onto the spot [fovea] where you want the most precise vision."
Following a total eclipse in the United Kingdom in 1999, at least 14 cases of permanent damage were confirmed.
One story of solar eclipse danger was illustrated by the case of Mr. Tomososki, who damaged his eyesight when viewing a 1962 eclipse, leaving him with a pea-sized blind spot for the rest of his life. During the 2017 eclipse he warned the country to not make the mistake he did. While some can recover, the danger of an eclipse comes in part because the excitement can override the instinct to not look at the sun.
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Source of the article : Wikipedia
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