1. Get Ready for the American Eclipse!
Solar Eclipse August 21, 2017
Get Ready for the American Eclipse!

2. Answers to the basic questions:
What is a solar eclipse?
When and where will the solar eclipse happen?
How can I safely view the eclipse?
What will I see?
When will the next eclipse happen?
How have solar eclipses changed history and advanced science?

3. What is a Solar Eclipse? Distance to Sun 92,900,000 miles
Diameter of Sun ,000 miles
Distance to Moon ,000 miles
Diameter of Moon ,160 miles
What is a Solar Eclipse?
Sun is 400X more distant than the Moon
Sun is 400X larger than the Moon
Thus, the Moon and Sun appear to have the same size when viewed from Earth!

4. What is a Solar Eclipse?
Moon’s shadow fall on the surface of the Earth

6. What is a Solar Eclipse?

8. When and where will the 2017 solar eclipse be visible?
Solar Eclipse of August 21, 2017
Will be the first total solar eclipse visible from the continental United States since 1978.
Will be the first total
solar eclipse only visible
from United States soil
since before the
founding of the United
States. (1257)
When and where will the 2017 solar eclipse be visible?

9. When and where will the 2017 solar eclipse be visible?

10. When and where will the 2017 solar eclipse be visible?
Eclipse Begins – 1:10pm
Maximum 80% – 2:35pm
Eclipse Ends – 3:55pm
In Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
Monday, August 21, 2017
When and where will the 2017 solar eclipse be visible?

11. When and where will the 2017 solar eclipse be visible?
Closest States on the Path of Totality
Monday, August 21, 2017
Missouri
Illinois
Kentucky
Tennessee
North Carolina
South Carolina
When and where will the 2017 solar eclipse be visible?

13. How do I safely view the eclipse?
NEVER look directly at the sun. This can cause serious and permanent eye damage.
Eclipse Glasses – special filters that block much more light than typical sun glasses.
Pinhole Viewing

15. Pinhole Eclipse Viewer

16. Partial Eclipse from Westmoreland County

17. Next US Solar Eclipse (even closer to total!)
April 8, 2024
Nearby Cities in the Path of Totality
Erie, PA
Cleveland, OH
Next Solar Eclipses in US
August 12, 2045
March 30, 2052
May 11, 2078
May 1, 2079
September 14, 2099

18. Many ancient cultures took eclipses as bad omens that portend death and destruction
Myths in various cultures said that frogs, bears, or dragons ate the sun during an eclipse
Even today some cultures fear eclipses – even though there is no scientific basis
History of Eclipses

19. History of Eclipses Eclipse of 585BC
Stopped a war between the Medians and the Lydians.
Because this event was recorded by historians, we know the date very accurately and the eclipse was used to calibrate historical records to our modern calendar.
History of Eclipses

20. History of Eclipses Thales of Miletus
Predicted the eclipse of 585BC
Babylonians and Chinese astronomers kept accurate tables of eclipses as far back as 2500BC
Repeating patterns allowed some eclipses to be predicted even earlier than Thales’ prediction of the 585BC eclipse

21. More Recent Eclipse History and Science
Eclipses allow scientist to study the Sun’s Corona

22. More Recent Eclipse History and Science
Observations of stars near the Sun during the Eclipse of confirmed Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity

23. Best of Luck for Clear Skies for the Great American Eclipse
Eclipse Begins – 1:10pm
Maximum 80% – 2:35pm
Eclipse Ends – 3:55pm
In Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
Monday, August 21, 2017
Best of Luck for Clear Skies for the Great American Eclipse

24. Questions?