Total Solar Eclipse 2017: Which States Will Witness the August 21 Phenomenon?

By Vincent Alocada, Christian Post Contributor Friday, June 30, 2017

The next total solar eclipse is happening on Aug. 21, and residents in 10 American states will be lucky enough to experience this rare phenomenon.

A total solar eclipse happens when the moon covers the whole sun, and it is happening again this year between 9 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon EDT. Reports claim that the total eclipse may last between 20 seconds and two minutes and 40 seconds long, depending on where one will be viewing it.

In the U.S., this year's total solar eclipse will cross from Oregon to South Carolina with a path of about 70 miles and 2,000 miles long. It will be highly visible from the states of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

According to Seeker, the entire population of the continental United States within the path of the phenomenon will be able to witness the total solar eclipse. While those outside the path can still witness the eclipse, they will only be treated to a partial eclipse, in which the moon will only cover a portion of the sun.

For education purposes, the Southern Illinois University is holding a public eclipse-viewing session in Saluki Stadium, where the public can also experience eclipse tailgating, presentations, a citizen-science area and telescope viewing.

Meanwhile, it has been learned that NASA will be taking advantage of the eclipse to fund the study of the sun and its effects on earth and test its instruments at the same time in order to find out if such could be installed on future satellites. Reportedly, the experiments will happen on ground, while NASA scientists are aboard high-altitude balloons and on an aircraft that will fly within the path of the total solar eclipse.

The last time a total solar eclipse happened in mainland U.S. was in 1979, where it was witnessed by those in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and the north-central state of North Dakota. However, the last time for the phenomenon to happen from coast to coast in continental U.S. was in 1918.