US in rare bull's-eye for total solar eclipse on Aug. 21
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- It will be tough eclipsing this eclipse.
The
sun, moon and Earth will line up perfectly in the cosmos on Aug. 21,
turning day into night for a few wondrous minutes, its path crossing the
U.S. from sea to shining sea for the first time in nearly a century.
Never will a total solar eclipse be so heavily viewed and studied — or celebrated.
"We're
going to be looking at this event with unprecedented eyes," promises
Alex Young, a solar physicist who is coordinating NASA's education and
public outreach.
And the party planning is at full tilt from Oregon to South Carolina.
Eclipse
Fests, StarFests, SolarFests, SolFests, Darkening of the SunFests,
MoonshadowFests, EclipseCons, Eclipse Encounters and Star Parties are
planned along the long but narrow path of totality, where the moon
completely blots out the sun.
Vineyards, breweries, museums, parks, universities, stadiums — just about everybody is getting into the act.
The
Astronomical League for amateur astronomers is holing up at Casper,
Wyoming. Minor league baseball teams will halt play for "eclipse delays"
in Salem, Oregon, and elsewhere. By a cosmic quirk of the calendar, the
Little Green Men Days Festival will be in full swing in Kelly,
Kentucky, as will the American Atheists' annual convention in North
Charleston, South Carolina.
And where better to fill up on
eclipse T-shirts and safety glasses — and eclipse burgers — than the
Eclipse Kitchen in Makanda, Illinois.
Scientists are also going gaga.
"This
is a really amazing chance to just open the public's eyes to wonder,"
says Montana State University's Angela Des Jardins, a physicist in
charge of a NASA eclipse ballooning project . The student-launched,
high-altitude balloons will beam back live video of the eclipse along
the route.
Satellites and ground telescopes will also aim at the
sun and at the moon's shadow cutting a swath some 60 to 70 miles wide
(97 to 113 kilometers) across the land. Astronauts will do the same with
cameras aboard the International Space Station. Ships and planes will
also catch the action.
"It's going to be hard to beat, frankly," says Thomas Zurbuchen, head of NASA's science mission office.
At
the same time, researchers and the just plain curious will watch how
animals and plants react as darkness falls. It will resemble twilight
and the temperature will drop 10 to 15 degrees.
Expect four hours
of pageantry, from the time the sun begins to be eclipsed by the moon
near Lincoln City, Oregon, until the time the moon's shadow vanishes
near Charleston, South Carolina. NASA will emcee the whole show, via TV
and internet from that coastal city.
The total eclipse will last
just 1 1/2 hours as the lunar shadow sweeps coast to coast at more than
1,500 mph (2,400 kph) beginning about 1:15 p.m. EDT and ending at 2:49
p.m. EDT. The sun's crown — the normally invisible outer atmosphere
known as the corona — will shine forth like a halo.
Sure, full
solar eclipses happen every one, two or three years, when the moon
positions itself smack dab between the sun and Earth. But these
take-your-breath-away eclipses usually occur in the middle of the ocean
somewhere, though, or near the sparsely populated top or bottom of the
world. In two years, Chile, Argentina and the empty South Pacific will
share top billing.
The United States is in the bull's-eye this time.
It
will be the first total solar eclipse in 99 years to cross
coast-to-coast and the first to pass through any part of the Lower 48
states in 38 years.
NASA's meteor guru, Bill Cooke, was in
Washington state for that one in 1979. This time, he's headed to his
sister's farm in eastern Tennessee.
"It is the most weird, creepy, awe-inspiring astronomical event you will experience," Cooke says.
No
other country but the U.S. will be privy to the path of totality.
Originating in the wide open North Pacific and ending in the Atlantic
well short of Africa, the path of totality will cover 8,600 miles
(13,800 kilometers) from end to end.
In all, 14 states (two of them barely) and 21 National Park locations and seven national historic trails will be in the path.
Darkness
will last just under two minutes in Oregon, gradually expanding to a
maximum two minutes and 44 seconds in Shawnee National Forest in
southernmost Illinois, almost into Kentucky, then dwindling to 2 1/2
minutes in South Carolina. Staring at the sun with unprotected eyes is
always dangerous, except during the few minutes of totality. But eye
protection is needed during the partial eclipse before and after.
With
an estimated 200 million people living within a day's drive of the
path, huge crowds are expected. Highway officials already are cautioning
travelers to be patient and, yes, avoid eclipses in judgment.
The
view from the sidelines won't be too shabby, either. A partial eclipse
will extend up through Canada and down through Central America and the
top of South America. Minneapolis will see 86 percent of the sun
covered, Miami sees 82 percent, Montreal gets 66 percent, while Mexico
City sees 38 percent.
But who wants to settle for not quite when you can experience the whole eclipsed enchilada?
Not
Kevin Van Horn, an astronomy buff from suburban Pittsburgh who will
make the 8 1/2-hour drive to Nashville with his wife, Cindy. Nashville
is the biggest metropolitan area along the eclipse's main drag.
"It
would be like going to the Super Bowl and sitting outside the stadium
rather than being inside and watching it," says Van Horn, a total solar
eclipse newbie.
By contrast, it will be the 13th total solar
eclipse for Rick Fienberg, spokesman for the American Astronomical
Society. He's headed to Oregon.
"Going through life without ever
experiencing totality," Fienberg declares, "is like going through life
without ever falling in love."
To give everyone a shot at the
cosmic drama, which falls on a Monday, many schools are canceling
classes, while offices plan to take a break or close for the day. The
true beauty of the experience, according to NASA's Young, comes from
sharing "arguably the most amazing astronomical event that anyone can
see" with millions of others.
Those multitudes are what terrify
Jackie Baker, who owns and runs the Eclipse Kitchen with her father in a
village of 600 that's tucked into a valley in southernmost Illinois.
The 18-seat cafe — which had its grand opening last Aug. 21 — is named
for this eclipse and the one coming up in 2024.
The Eclipse Kitchen is in the crosshairs of both.
While
it won't span coast to coast, the April 8, 2024 eclipse will still be a
doozy, coming up from Mexico into Texas, moving through the Midwest and
into Maine and New Brunswick, Canada. Darkness will last four minutes.
The world record is just over seven minutes.
Baker expects to sell out of food well before showtime on Aug. 21. Then she'll just enjoy the eclipse.
That's Cooke's plan, too. "You just need to sit back and take it all in."
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