Everything You Need to Know about the Eclipse 2017

Dylan Shakespear
Aug 9, 2017 · 3 min read

On August 21, 2017, there is going to be a solar eclipse over the United States. The last solar eclipse in the United States that went coast to coast was in 1918, 99 years ago. But what about this eclipse? Here I’ll tell you everything that you could want to know.

There are two types of eclipses: solar eclipses and lunar eclipses. A lunar eclipse is when the earth casts a shadow on the moon, and a solar eclipse is when the moon casts a shadow on the earth. The literal definition of eclipse by the Webster Dictionary is, “The total or partial obscuring of one celestial body by another.”

Solar eclipses are rare, but not as rare as you would expect. There are averagely 2–5 each year. However some of these are annular solar eclipses in stead of total solar eclipses. Annular solar eclipses occur when the moon is farther away from the earth and doesn’t cover the sun completely. Sometimes these are called partial solar eclipses. About half of solar eclipses are annular, making the other half total. And total solar eclipses, as the name implies, cover the entire sun. If you want to see a list of upcoming solar eclipses and where they will be click here.

The solar eclipse doesn’t happen everywhere where it will happen at the same time. It slowly passes across the United States so you will have to be ready at a different time in each location. Click here to be directed to a page where you can get specific time and information for you location. There you can see when it will be best for you to view the eclipse.

So if you are planning to view it there are some safety concerns. Looking directly at the sun is, for obvious reasons, a bad idea. Only during the full eclipse when the sun is completely covered by the moon can you look at the sun without any eye protection. It is recommended you buy special solar eclipse glasses, which you can get relatively cheaply. Also I’ve learn from past eclipses that wearing multiple pairs of sunglasses over each other seems to work, but I wouldn’t recommend it and give no guarantee that you can do it safely that way. It’s probably too late to buy glasses online, but I would highly recommend you find some if you want to safely view the eclipse.

Well that’s all you really need to know about the solar eclipse that will go across the United States on August 21st. If you live in the U.S. near where the eclipse will happen you better go take advantage of this rare opportunity, because even though eclipses aren’t too rare, they happen everywhere across the globe so chances are you won’t be where one will happen again for a long time.


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