Everything you need to know about August's eclipse of a lifetime A primer on why this one is a biggie and where to try to catch it!

in #science7 years ago

From CBC

On the morning of August 21, a dark shadow will cross over North America. The temperature will drop, people will see stars and a fiery halo will appear in the sky.

No, it's not the apocalypse – it's a once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse.

"We happen to be at a very lucky place in the universe and a very lucky place in earth's history and time to be able to see this complete blocking out of sun," said Jesse Brydle, a science educator at Science World British Columbia. "It's a very rare occurrence and it happens for a very brief moment."

In fact, the complete solar eclipse will last between just two minutes and two minutes and 40 seconds in parts of the United States. In Canada, we won't see the complete solar eclipse at all (we're too far North) but residents of Western Canada will see about 85 per cent of a full eclipse, Brydle said.

Still, a two-minute eclipse? What's all the hype about? The answer: an eclipse of this magnitude – it will travel from coast to coast across the United States – hasn't been seen since 1918, according to NASA.
To prepare, we asked Brydle everything you could want to know about how to make the most of the upcoming eclipse.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/life/wellness/everything-you-need-to-know-about-august-s-eclipse-of-a-lifetime-1.4226211
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I saw the eclipse when it came over Europe about 15 years ago, because my math teacher kept going on about it. I went to Belgium with my mother, the journey was as fun as the eclipse itself which was indeed very special to witness in real life.

It's amazing to see the shadow just creep over the landscape and hillside too. There were many people gathered everywhere to watch it, and you could feel a real strange 'feeling'in the air as all the birds and animals went quiet and retreated to their nests, and when the eclipse finally came all the people cheering and gasping in awe was very special too.

EDIT: Be sure to go to the place where you have 100% eclipse. If you think that 99% eclipse will be just as good you are dead wrong and it's a waste of time unless you go for the 100% eclipse because the effect is completely different.

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