Missed experiencing the main event? Fear not, here are some alternatives
WHAT TO DO IF YOU COULDN’T
TRAVEL TO THE PATH OF TOTALITY
Although a total solar eclipse was
visible only to those within the path of
totality, people all over the continental
US – as well as Mexico, Canada and in
the Caribbean – were able to view a
partial solar eclipse. For instance, New
York City and Los Angeles saw a 71 per
cent and 68 per cent eclipse,
respectively. Denver and Seattle both
got a 92 per cent ‘deep partial’ eclipse.
Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff,
Arizona held an event to view a 70 per
cent partial eclipse through solar
telescopes. But you can easily do some
science in your backyard. When the
Sun is eclipsed more than about 50 per
cent, hold up a colander, or anything
with well-defined holes, in front of
some white card to see projections of
tiny crescent Suns.While total solar eclipses are not
particularly rare (they happen about once
every 18 months somewhere on the
planet), any one location should
statistically not expect more than one
every 375 years. Australia massively
bucks that trend in the 2020s and 2030s
with a stunning five total solar eclipses in
just 15 years. It begins in 2023 when
Exmouth Peninsula in Western Australia- famous for whale sharks and
humpback whales – is grazed by totality.
But it gets better. In 2028 a solar eclipse
will cross Australia, and those in Sydney
will get an unbelievable four minutes of
totality. “It’s another eclipse in my home
and I cannot wait!” says Dr Kate Russo,
an Australian-born psychologist who
studies people’s reactions to watching
totality. Australians will experience
totality again in 2030, 2037 and 2038.
NASA organised a four-hour Eclipse
MegaCast across multiple platforms.
The MegaCast was streamed live by
NASA TV (nasa.gov/multimedia/
nasatv), as well as by all PBS stations
in the US. “The eclipse has a narrow
path and there’s only so many
universities it goes through, and we’re
close to the point of greatest duration”
said Bob Baer of Southern Illinois
University’s physics department in
Carbondale, which was chosen by
NASA to host a large-scale broadcast
and stream from their campus. Baer
is the organiser for eclipse events at
Carbondale – which enjoyed totality
for two minutes and 38 seconds. The
public observing event was held in the
Saluki Stadium, and outside there
was a studio from where the
broadcast was sent around the world.
The question after experiencing the
totality on 21 August 2017: when is
the next eclipse? The answer is 2
July 2019, when a total solar
eclipse crosses the South Pacific
(just north of Pitcairn Island), Chile’s
Elqui Valley, and the Argentinian
Pampas. The European Southern
Observatory’s La Silla site will be
thrown under the Moon’s shadow.
On 26 December 2019 there is an
eclipse across the Arabian
peninsula, India and Singapore, but
this time it’s an annular eclipse,
which means the Moon will be
furthest away from Earth in its
elliptical orbit. This means the Moon
doesn’t block the Sun completely,
so there’s no totality but a ‘ring of
fire’ eclipse instead.FIND THE ECLIPSE
ONLINE
PLAN A VISIT TO THE
SOUTH PACIFIC, CHILE
OR ARGENTINASOME SETTLED FOR A
GLIMPSE OF A PARTIAL
ECLIPSEMOVE TO
AUSTRALIA