MARK YOUR CALENDARS …
A total solar eclipse is coming to the United States next year – and according to eclipse monitors (a raucous crowd if we’ve ever seen one), the State of South Carolina will have a front row seat to the fun.
The event – dubbed the “Great American Eclipse” – is historic.
The last solar eclipse to impact the United States occurred in February 1979, but “totality” – i.e. when the sun is completely blocked out by the moon – was confined to a handful of states in the American northwest.
The coming eclipse – scheduled for August 21, 2017 – will cut across the entire country, with “totality” expected to occur in at least a dozen states (including the Palmetto State).
Here’s a map of the eclipse’s path across the country …
(Click to enlarge)
(Map via Eclipse 2017)
And here’s a map of its path across South Carolina …
(Click to enlarge)
(Map via Eclipse 2017)
According to scientists, an estimated 12 million Americans live within the 60-mile wide path of the coming solar event – but another 200 million reside within a day’s drive of the eclipse’s path.
If you have to drive, you might want to check your “local listings” first. The eclipse will only last for about two to three minutes at any given point along its path.
In addition to next year’s big event, another solar eclipse is expected to cut across the continent on April 8, 2024. That eclipse is scheduled to pass from Texas through Ohio before passing over the Great Lakes, Upstate New York, Maine and New Brunswick, Canada.