A6 Sunday, August 13, 2017 | THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH •

86% of sun obscured

in Columbus

Columbus
600 500 400 300 APPROXIMATE MILES FROM COLUMBUS
St. Joseph Springfield
Indianapolis
MISSOURI ILLINOIS INDIANA OHIO
2:09 p.m.
Shadow
of moon
Marshall
Bloomington
Kansas Cincinnati
2:12 p.m.
City Columbia

E
IP S
Sedalia 2:15 p.m. St. Louis

L
Path of

EC
Jefferson total eclipse

AL
OT
City

FT
2:18 p.m. Louisville

EO
DG
Evansville

OE
Carbondale
Farmington

ST
2:21 p.m. KENTUCKY

IL E
Area that will experience the

5M
longest duration (2 minutes, Madisonville

27
41 seconds) of total eclipse. 2:24 p.m.
Paducah
Bowling Green 20 miles

2:27 p.m.
Clarksville

A total eclipse
TENNESSEE
Cookeville
Nashville 2:30p.m.
Knoxville

of the heartland
Murfreesboro
2:33p.m.
Athens

2:36p.m.
The moon will pass between the sun and Earth on Aug. 21, casting a shadow that will travel across the Greenville
country from coast to coast. It will be the first total eclipse over the contiguous United States in 38 years.
2:39p.m.

The eclipse path How to view eclipse safely

The solar eclipse will cut a swath across the U.S., and a narrow segment from Oregon to South To view the partially eclipsed sun,
Carolina will experience more than two minutes when the sun is blocked totally by the moon. eye protection is required.

1:15 p.m. 1:30 p.m. 1:45 p.m. 2 p.m. 2:15 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 2:45 p.m.

Sun “Eclipse glasses” or hand-held

obscured viewers should meet the ISO
TOTAL 12312-2 international standard.
ECLIPSE 60%

2:0 0 A No. 14 arc welder’s glass

2:10 70% can be used to safely view
2: 2 0
the eclipse directly.
Detail area
2: 3 0 above
80%
Dur Pinhole Index
a
(mi tion o card
n ut f
e s : s tot a l i 2:4 0
eco ty 90% Simple projector
nds Poke a small hole in
)
an index card with
100% a pencil tip. Hold
another card 3 to
4 feet behind in its Index
90% shadow. All eclipse card
phases can be safely 3 to 4 feet
viewed on the face Eclipse
40% 50% 60% 70% 80% projection
of the card.

Celestial alignment Total eclipses over U.S., through 2050

As the moon orbits the Earth — traveling in tandem around the sun — it A total eclipse of the sun will happen over the contiguous 48
occasionally passes between Earth and the sun. Within the shadow cast on Earth, states only four times between now and 2050. The 2017 total
the moon is seen to block out — or eclipse — the sun, either totally or partially. eclipse is the first to touch the U.S. mainland since Feb. 26, 1979.

It takes light from the sun eight minutes, 20 seconds Path of 197
9 to
to travel the 92.9 million miles to Earth. eclipse tal e
c li p s e
Aug. 23, 2044

Moon
AUG. 21

Sun (Not to scale) Earth

Aug. 12, 2045

Penumbra Umbra April 8, 2024

(partial (total
eclipse) eclipse)

Sources: NASA; greatamericaneclipse.com; American Astronomical Society; Photo: Kate Russo; maps4news.com/©HERE JUSTIN GILBERT/GATEHOUSE MEDIA