In less than three weeks, it will happen. I imagine you've heard about it. The solar eclipse of the century occurs Aug. 21. The path of totality stretches all across the U.S., from the coast of Oregon through Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, far northeast Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and finally leaving the U.S. mainland in South Carolina. The last time we had one that covered this much of the continental U.S. was in 1918. That one was nice for Oklahomans as the path of totality ran halfway between Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
This one won't be total for any part of Oklahoma. At maximum in Oklahoma City, 15.37 percent of the sun's disk will remain unobscured by the new moon. And that 15 percent means you cannot look directly at it without doing significant damage to your eyes, up to and including total blindness.
Unless you already bought special glasses specifically for viewing the sun, you have nothing in your house that allows you to safely view the solar eclipse. Eclipse glasses aren't very costly, and there are a number of places they can be ordered online. Locally, many of the branches of the Metropolitan Library System offer informational programs this month with presentations on the eclipse and free eclipse glasses. Supplies are limited. Go to www.metrolibrary.org to see what is being offered at the various branches and dates and times.
Science Museum Oklahoma has a large supply of eclipse glasses for sale in its gift shop and will offer programs and viewings on that day. The planetarium staff will have several telescopes offering safe, detailed views of the sun as our moon passes in front of it.
If you decide to view it from your own backyard, or go north to the centerline, there are numerous resources available. NASA provides an interactive map of the eclipse at http://ift.tt/1qQeBvO. Click anywhere on the map, even if not in the path of totality, and get eclipse start and end times, time of maximum for the location, and, if in the path of totality, the duration. If you plan on traveling to some location along the path of totality, be warned. Experts predict as many as 30 million people will travel to locations along the eclipse path. St. Joseph, Missouri, almost directly on the centerline expects to double their population of 50,000 for the day. One estimate predicts as many 500,000 folks may converge on the city. Expect extremely heavy traffic and likely traffic jams. If you're looking for a hotel somewhere along that path, good luck. Try smaller hotels in smaller cities. All hotels in the major cities along the path of totality are likely booked solid.
Many downloadable guide books and websites providing detailed information about the eclipse may be found online. Try http://ift.tt/2rDKGMa or NASA eclipse guide page at eclipse2017.nasa.gov. Also a very nice app that provides local circumstances can be found at eclipsecountdown.com. It's very handy to download to your smartphone at whatever app store applies for your phone. According to this app, the eclipse in northwest Oklahoma City starts at 11:36:45 with maximum eclipse, 84.63 percent coverage, occurring at 1:05:17, ending at 2:34:25.
If you miss this eclipse, your next chance to view a total solar eclipse in the U.S. occurs on April 8, 2024. The path of totality of that one cuts across the far southeast corner of Oklahoma, only a few miles southeast of Idabel. I wouldn't wait too long to make hotel reservations.
Extraterrestrial update: On May 12, the 1,000-foot diameter Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico detected "some very peculiar signals" that appear to emanate from a red dwarf star. The star, Ross 128, is just 11 light-years from Earth. Could it be aliens? Red dwarf stars have unusually large flares, but they usually radiate at a much lower frequency. No man-made satellite has been known to emit such a burst of radio waves, and there is no known other source of such radiation within the same field of view.
I'm hoping it's aliens.
August highlights: The night of Aug. 12 and 13, the Perseid meteor shower, our most reliable annual shower, graces the night sky. Unfortunately a bright third-quarter moon wipes all but the very brightest.
Planet visibility report: As the month begins, brilliant “Morning Star” Venus is the lone planetary emissary in the morning sky. Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn are all up at sunset, while Mars hides behind the sun. Mercury sets more than an hour after the sun does, a good appearance of our innermost planet. Saturn sets less than an hour before Venus rises in the east, heralding the wait for morning twilight. On the day of the eclipse, both Mercury and Mars are too close to the sun to be seen normally, but if you're in the path of totality, both will show up either side of the sun, Mars to the west, Mercury to the east.
By the end of the month, Venus still dominates the morning pre-dawn sky, while both Mercury and Mars may be glimpsed before sunrise with a very clear eastern horizon. Jupiter and Saturn continue to shine in the sky after sunset. Full Moon occurs on the Aug. 7 with the new moon and the total solar eclipse following on the Aug. 21.
Wayne Harris-Wyrick is an Oklahoma astronomer and former director of the Kirkpatrick Planetarium at Science Museum Oklahoma. Questions or comments may be emailed towizardwayne@zoho.com.
Read Again Oklahoma to see most of the rare August eclipse : http://ift.tt/2hjC1hi
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