Seventeen years from today*, observers in the United States will witness the first total solar eclipse to be seen from that country since 1970.
The path of totality, the region in which the sun will be completely blocked by the moon, will traverse the length of the 48 conterminous United States.
Xavier Jubier's GoogleMap of the 21.8.2017 eclipse path
Quicktime video of the 21.8.2017 eclipse path
GIF animation of the 21.8.2017 eclipse path
The duration of totality will vary from 90 seconds on the Oregon coast up to 150 seconds on the beach in South Carolina. The maximum duration of totality will take place near Eddyville, Kentucky (maximum eclipse coordinates: 37.0N 87.6W), just to the north of Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. Totality at this location will begin at 1:24:08 pm local time and last for two minutes and 40 seconds. The width of the path of totality will be 115 km (71 miles).
Coordinates along the centerline path of totality, 21 Aug 2017
The moon's shadow, traveling at a leisurely 2000 mph, will first touch land near Cape Lookout, Oregon, just after 9:15 a.m. local time. The path of totality will then follow a line that passes through northern Oregon; crosses Hell's Canyon National Recreation Area west of McCall, Idaho; goes right overhead Borah Peak in central Idaho and then Grand Teton Peak in western Wyoming; runs just south of Casper, Wyoming; passes over or near Scotts Bluff National Monument in western Nebraska; crosses just about right over the city of Broken Bow in Custer County, Nebraska, and then the capital, Lincoln; curves down through Missouri near Gallatin; completely darkens Columbia MO; passes south of St. Louis by about 15 miles; darkens Benton IL, near Rend Lake; passes over Eddyville, Kentucky (maximum eclipse); darkens Gallatin, TN, 25 miles northeast of Nashville; passes through the tip of western North Carolina; crosses the peak of Sassafras Mountain on the Carolinas' border; darkens Lake Greenwood and central South Carolina, and then reaches the Atlantic Ocean near Charleston at 1:48 p.m. local time.Three planets ought to be visible during totality (which causes the daytime sky to dim to darkness). Jupiter and Venus will be spaced more than 50 degrees to the left and 30 degrees to the right of the sun, respectively. Mars will be 8 degrees to right, possibly too faint to see in the ambient glow of the sun's corona. The main body of the constellation Orion will be high in the sky (or just above the horizon in the eastern US) during totality. It might well be too faint to see... as if you'll be looking at anything besides the ring around the moon.
So... save, bookmark, print, copy and laminate this page. File it away, stuff it into your billfold, or put it in your freezer for safekeeping like my mother does. Tell your (future) kids and grandkids or nephews and nieces. Remember your film (which I bet will still be in use a decade from now).
The Vinson Taylor Memorial iMac Observatory
Preliminary Eclipse Data for 21 August 2017
*Prepared by Damon Taylor on 21 August 2000
