On Monday, August 21, 2017, something spectacular is going to happen in the United States – a total solar eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and Earth and completely blocks the sun. While there are eclipses across the world all the time, a complete solar eclipse was last visible in the United States in 1979. The last time a solar eclipse traveled the entire country was 1918.
People are pretty psyched for this. In fact, hotel rooms in the cities where the eclipse will be fully in view have been booked for over a year. Crazy! Many schools and companies will be closing for the eclipse, so why not gather friends and throw a party.
Treats and Tunes
- Serve goodies like Moon Pies, Starbursts or Milky Way bars to incorporate the space theme.
- Use a cookie cutter and cut fruit, like watermelon, into star shapes. Or, use different size circle cookie cutters to cut the fruit. The varying sizes will symbolize the different sizes of the planets.
- Make a playlist with fun space themed songs. Some Ideas are David Bowie’s Space Oddity, R.E.M.’s Man on the Moon, The Police’s Walking on the Moon, Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me to the Moon, Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart, Madonna’s Lucky Star, Train’s Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me) and Europe’s The Final Countdown.
Prime Viewing Cities
You’ll be able to witness a partial eclipse, pretty much anywhere in the US. But to view a total eclipse, you’ll need to be in one of these states: Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North and South Carolina.
The eclipse will begin in Lincoln Beach, OR at 9:05 a.m. PDT. The total eclipse will happen there at about 10:16 a.m. From that point, it will cut across America ending in Charleston, SC at about 2:48 p.m EDT. If you want to know when the eclipse will be coming through your city, take a look at this solar eclipse time and date tracker.
Not in the path of the eclipse? Don’t fret, you can get in on the action too. The eclipse will be viewed the longest (2 minutes 41 seconds) just south of Carbondale, IL. NASA is going to be live streaming the event from Saluki Stadium at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Solar Eclipse Glasses
It’s never safe to look directly at the sun, so have Solar Eclipse Glasses for family and friends. These glasses have a special solar filter on them and will allow guests to safely look at the partially eclipsed sun. Once the sun is totally eclipsed, you will want to briefly remove the glasses to view the eclipse.
Science Crafts for Kids
The eclipse is a great way to teach kids about science and the planets. Pinterest has a bunch of solar eclipse craft projects kids will love. Here are a few of our favorites.