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As many of you have realized, there has been a significant drought of total solar eclipses in the USA for nearly 40 years, and not just in the USA, in all of North America. Eclipse chasers were spoiled in the 1970s with a total eclipse nearly every other year, then the drought of USA eclipse began. But now, at last, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and the drought will soon end for millions of Americans who have never seen a total eclipse of the sun. On August 21st, 2017 (a Monday), the path of a great total solar eclipse will come ashore on the Pacific Coast just south of Portland, Oregon, and will progress eastward through the center of the country, exiting on the Atlantic Coast in South Carolina. It will pass over many large cities, including St. Louis, Nashville, Lincoln and Charleston on a fine summer day. This is a time of year when the USA cloud cover is near a minimum, thus it is likely that millions of Americans will experience their first total solar eclipse.
The prime spot along the path in terms of the duration of the eclipse will be near the Illinois/Kentucky border. How long will totality last? It depends upon where you observe. It will be one minute and 50 seconds in Oregon, two minutes and 44 seconds (the maximum) south of Carbondale, Illinois, and two minutes and 27 seconds in South Carolina. The brevity of a total eclipse may come as a shock to those who have never seen one, but the duration of such an eclipse is never more than 7 minutes and 30 seconds, with the average eclipse being about 3 minutes. Plus, as you will find out, those three minutes will seem to pass much faster than the time it takes you to cook a three-minute egg. It will be over in what seems like 45 seconds, so be ready with your tripod, camera, telescope and binoculars.
Where should you go to observe this? If you want to minimize travel time and distance, just plan to go to the point very near the central line of the path that passes the closest to your home area (consult the map of the path). You should also have two alternate locations that are a couple of hundred miles each way (east and west) from your primary point. This is in anticipation of clouds at your primary location. Watch the weather predictions for these three locations starting on Friday, August 18, and plan accordingly. if you want to experience an extra 25 to 54 seconds, plan to go to a spot on the centerline of the path between St. Louis, Missouri and Charleston, South Carolina. You will get 2 ½ minutes or more in that segment. A final word … stay mobile, watch the weather and don’t miss it!
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