We're barely into Spring, but scientists are looking ahead to the Fall, when the moon will pass across the face of the sun and cause a solar eclipse. Eclipses aren’t that rare…they happen about once a year. NASA research astrophysicist Nicholeen Viall says the one in August is especially remarkable for the United States.
“To have one over the United States and to have one go from coast to coast like this one’s going to do IS pretty rare. The last time that it happened where we had a total solar eclipse in the United States that went coast to coast was 1918. So this type of event is kind of a once in a lifetime occurrence. And the path of totality is going to enter in Oregon, it’s going to go across the United States, and then it’s going to exit in South Carolina.”
It will only take 90 minutes for the eclipse to make its way from coast to coast. Totality will be 90 seconds to 2 minutes in each city. Unfortunately, San Antonio isn’t one of those cities in the path of totality, but we’ll still get a chance to see part of the phenomenon with the proper eye protection, of course.
So mark your calendar for August 21st, and keep track of all eclipse related news at eclipse2017.NASA.gov and http://nationaleclipse.com/.
