Solar Eclipse Coming (not very) Soon

There was a solar eclipse last summer but you had to go to India or China or take a very expensive cruise in order to see much of it...What is a solar eclipse lover to do?



Mark your calendars!


The moon will block the sun's light across the heartland of the United States causing one of the most spectacular Solar Eclipses of our lifetimes.


(I definitely need more hype!!!!!!!)


On August 21, 2017 a total solar eclipse that will make landfall just south of Portland, OR about 7:05 AM PDT. Then the moon will blot out the sun across Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Tennessee, a bit of Georgia and the Carolinas before moving over the Atlantic at about 2:10 PM EDT


This is sure to be a grand event and, Class of 2011 (Bedminster 8th Grade), in the middle of your college career... What a great  education opportunity -- a trip to the eclipse.


SAFETY PRECAUTION: DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN EVEN DURING AN ECLIPSE! YOU CAN BURN UP YOUR RETINA IN A MATTER OF SECONDS!


(The next lunar eclipse visible to us will be December 21, 2010 but we'll cover lunar eclipses another time.)

Here are some basic eclipse vocabulary words:


total eclipse - the new moon is in a direct line with the sun and blocks the sun's light completely
annular eclipse - the new moon is in a direct line with the sun but only blocks part of the sun's light (Who can make a model that shows why this happens?) leaving a dangerously bright ring of sunlight around the disc of the moon.
hybrid eclipse - a little bit of the total and a little bit of annular over the period of the eclipse.
partial eclipse - only part of the sun light will be blocked. The sun will look like a cookie with a bite out of it.


Optional: Check wikipedia for more details, a tutorial with good illustrations from Mr. Eclipse or NASA
Definitely view this page that shows how the shadow of the moon crosses the earth.


The next solar eclipse to darken the continental USA will be April 8, 2024. That Eclipse makes landfall in the southwest of Mexico and crosses the continent heading toward the north east. The path of these two shadows makes an X in the heartland of the USA in southern IL and western KT.


The towns of Metropolis, IL (Isn't that where superman is from?) and Paducah, KT, will be in the path of both the 2017 and the 2024 eclipses. Looks like a cool place on Google Earth. Paducah is known as the Atomic City and the Quilt Capital of the world. The Ohio and Tennessee rivers meet there and so should we! Reunion for the eclipse! Would that be cool or what?



Or maybe we should buy land in the area and prepare to rent space to millions of gawkers who want to see the events of their lifetime. We could be rich!


OK so this post ended up being for long term planners and since the world will be wiped out in 2012 "why make plans?". (I'll have to write a post about the 2012 nonsense.)


Assignment: The next Solar eclipse after these two that will cross the USA will be August 12, 2045. What states will it cross? And yes, I'll expect you to know the vocabulary words for a quiz.




be good,
Mr. Hazen