Watch this video to learn what is happening and how you can safely watch:
A total solar eclipse is one of the most wondrous sights in nature. It will get dark in the middle of the day. Stars will be visible. There will be a black hole in the sky where the Moon is covering the Sun, and the beautiful white corona will be the brightest part of the sky.
The Moon blocks out the light of the Sun in a total solar eclipse, leaving just prominences and the Sun's atmosphere visible. Image source: Phil Hart |
What is a total solar eclipse?
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon covers up the Sun from our perspective here on Earth. The Sun is 400 times larger than the Moon, but by coincidence is also 400 times farther away, so the two objects appear to be the same size in our sky. This is the reason solar eclipses can occur. Every once in a while, the Moon passes directly between the Sun and the Earth, and blocks out the sunlight for a short amount of time.
When the Moon passes directly between the Sun and Earth, people in the dark part of the shadow will see a total solar eclipse. Objects are not to scale. Image Credit: Wikipedia Commons. |
Total solar eclipses are more rare than lunar eclipses because the Moon's shadow on the Earth is much smaller than the Earth's shadow cast out into space (the cause of lunar eclipses). There is only a thin path on the Earth where a total solar eclipse is visible.
How can you watch the August 21, 2017 eclipse?
The total solar eclipse is only visible in a narrow path along the United States. In Peoria, the Sun will only by 90% eclipsed. If you want to see the total eclipse, you will need to travel to the path of totality. The closest cities along the path of totality to Peoria are in Southern Illinois (about a 5 hour drive) or near St. Louis (about a 3 hour drive).
The Shawnee National Forest and Carbondale will be good places to watch the eclipse. Image Source: GreatAmericanEclipse.com |
From the Peoria area, it will be a little bit of a shorter drive to totality in Missouri.
You will have to go a bit south or east of St. Louis to get the longest duration of the eclipse. Image Source |
The large yellow band across the country is the path of totality. Everywhere else in the United States a partial solar eclipse will be visible. Image Source |
How to safely watch a solar eclipse
For most of the eclipse when the Moon is not fully covering the Sun, you need to wear proper eye protection to be able to see anything, and to stay safe. Eclipse glasses are a popular choice, and are very inexpensive. The Peoria Riverfront Museum's store has them for sale for $1.95. Places online are selling out!
Rules For excitedly watching the Sun with eclipse glasses. |
You will need eclipse glasses or other solar filters to view all of the eclipse phases except totality.
Total Solar Eclipse phases in Turkey, 2006. Photo by Stefan Seip |
You do not need a telescope or binoculars to observe the eclipse, but if you want to use one, make sure you have a safe filter on it, or you will ruin your scope or your eyes.
What will you see?
If you do not have the option to travel to totality, you will see a partial eclipse through a solar filter. In the Peoria area, it will look something like this when it is maximally eclipsed:
It is worth watching the partial eclipse if you cannot travel to totality - it will still be an unusual and noteworthy sight. However, if you do have a chance to go to totality, you should. A partial eclipse is exciting, but a total solar eclipse is a rare phenomenon, one of the most awe-inspiring in nature.
If you travel to totality, this is what you will see:
Total Solar Eclipse in Norway, 2015. Image: Stan Honda |
A total solar eclipse as photographed through a telescope. 2009. Image: Koen van Gorp |
The Earth during a total solar eclipse, captured by the DSCOVR satellite. Image Source |
How can you learn more?
The Peoria Riverfront Museum's Dome Planetarium is your resource for all information about the 2017 total solar eclipse!
There is a lot of information on our website here.
We have a show running on our daily public schedule all about the event called "Eclipse: The Sun Revealed".
We will be having a viewing party if you are not able to travel to the total eclipse path. You can learn more here.
And we have eclipse shades and maps available in our museum store!
Check out the EclipseWise website for a plethora of information.
Also visit Mr. Eclipse for information about safely and successfully photographing the event.
Other helpful sites:
eclipse2017.org
GreatAmericanEclipse.com nationaleclipse.com
I hope you get to see the total solar eclipse this summer. There won't be another one visible in the US until 2024! After that, not until 2045.
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