Great American Eclipse
On 21 August 2017, the entire continental US enjoyed a solar eclipse. Everyone saw at least a partial obfuscation of the Sun, while those in a narrow band stretching from Oregon to South Carolina saw a brief phase of totality. Physics Today editors covered the Great American Eclipse from multiple locations along the zone of totality. You can also read about the geometry and physics that establish the conditions for eclipses; the events that took place during the previous coast-to-coast US eclipse in 1918; and a guide to what eclipses would look like from other planets inside and outside the solar system. (Photo credit: Cynthia Cummings)
Editor’s note, 29 August 2017: This post was updated and shifted from future to past tense following the eclipse.
Date in History: 21 August 2017
