Entire US will fall into shadow as eclipse passes, with darkest path, or ‘totality’, contained in 70-mile (113km) ribbon from Oregon to South Carolina
The sun, moon and Earth will line up perfectly in the cosmos on 21 August, turning day into night for a few wondrous minutes, its path crossing the US 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.
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 60 to 70 miles wide (97 to 113km) 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.
https://www.theguardian.com/science...solar-eclipse-on-21-august-excites-scientists
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