The “Great American Eclipse” has officially begun.
The total solar eclipse reached Oregon’s coast, near Lincoln City, at 1:16 p.m. Monday – marking the beginning of a 70-mile “path of totality” across the US.
NASA’s G-III aircraft picked up the stunning celestial event in Salem, Oregon, showing the black orb of a moon covering the blazing sun to create a glowing halo.
The awe-inspiring moment cast total blackness over the area.
It will then stretch across 13 other states: Idaho, a sliver of Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, a tiny portion of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
In most places, the total eclipse will last less than one minute but the longest period of darkness will take 2 minutes and 44 seconds over Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois.
Stargazers were warned to wear special sunglasses to protect their peepers but could remove them when the moon completely covers the sun.
The historic solar eclipse – which will be partially visible to everyone in the United States, as well as in parts of Central and South America — is expected to end around 4 p.m.
New Yorkers will experience about a 71-percent eclipse around 2:44 p.m.
The last coast-to-coast total eclipse occurred in 1918 and the US mainland hasn’t seen a total solar eclipse since 1979, when it reached just five states.
Source:
http://nypost.com/2017/08/21/solar-eclipse-2017-casts-shadow-across-the-united-states/