Get ready: America will see its first Total Solar Eclipse since 1979 in 2017

Mark your calendars, astronomy enthusiasts: in less than one year, the majority of people living in the US will be treated to the best solar eclipse of their lifetimes, as the event will be visible in all of North America, northern South America and much of the surrounding area.t

According to Seeker and Ars Technica, at least 80 percent of the sun’s diameter will be eclipsed by the passing new moon in what some experts are calling the “Great American Total Solar Eclipse,” an event that will occur on August 21, 2017 – one year from Sunday.

eclipse map

The path of the eclipse. (Credit: GreatAmericanEclipse.com)

It will be the first total solar eclipse to be visible in the contiguous United States since February 28, 1979, but in many regions, that event was obscured by cloudy and rainy weather conditions. That last eclipse to actually be visible in much of the US occurred back on June 8, 1918.

For many Americans under the age of 40, this will be their first good chance of seeing a total solar eclipse – on domestic soil, at least – as only three such events have been visible from the US mainland since 1960: the 1979 eclipse, one in July 1963 and another in March 1970.

Here are the best places to go to catch a glimpse of the event

While weather conditions are always unpredictable, Seeker anticipates that the August 2017 eclipse could directly cross the paths of more than 12 million people, and that the audience could rise to roughly 220 million if people who live within 500 miles of the prime viewing zone decide to hop in their cars and travel to get a better look at this rare phenomenon.

According to USA Today, the eclipse itself will begin on the west coast near Oregon and will follow a 67-mile wide path east across 12 US states, with South Carolina expected to be the last place it will be visible before it heads out over the ocean. In each location, it will last for a period of between two and three minutes before the sky returns to normal, the newspaper said.

The eclipse will pass directly over several prominent cities, including Salem, Oregon; Lincoln, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; Nashville, Tennessee and Charleston, South Carolina. Several other cities, including St. Louis and Atlanta, fall within a two-hour drive of the totality zone.

So where are the best places to watch it? The folks at EarthSky have compiled a list of prime viewing locations, including Madras, Oregon, which they say is easily accessible from Portland and “enjoys the nation’s best weather prospects,” and Carbondale, Illinois, which is home to the point in the US where the eclipse will be visible for the longest (37º 34’ 4.3” North latitude, 89º 06’ 10.0” West longitude). Book your travel packages accordingly!

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Image credit: Luc Viatour