There was a solar eclipse on February 26, 1979, my kindergarten year. It was not a total eclipse where I was, but it was visible enough for our class to be called to the south-facing windows of the school to view with those cardboard box contraptions, called sunscopes, which 'project' an image of the eclipse through a pinhole. I can recall being amazed and excited by the concept of darkness during the day (I still am...), and even more so by the teacher informing us, as we each took a turn putting our head inside that box, that we would all be forty-four years old the next time something like this occurred.
I'm not sure how she knew this, she must have consulted some kind of almanac, but she actually named our future age, seemingly right off the top of her head, and her exact words ("forty-four") have stayed with me all these years. They were my introduction to the concept of myself as something other than what I saw in the mirror. I can recall - quite vividly - being able to picture myself as a grown-up, viewing an eclipse in an otherwise completely unimaginable future.
Sure enough, her prediction was right on the money. A total solar eclipse will indeed take place on August 21, 2017, and I will be forty-four years old, just as Mrs. Leciejewski said.
And who knows...with any luck, on the road somewhere.
The 1979 event dealt just a glancing blow to northern Wisconsin. The path of totality - that relatively narrow track of the moon's shadow that gets plunged into total darkness for a few minutes - swept through Washington State, Idaho and Montana, but then swung northward toward the arctic. But this time, it will sweep straight through the middle of the country. According to Wikipedia, the longest duration of total darkness will occur in Shawnee National Forest, south of Carbondale, Illinois.
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| February 26, 1979 - A total solar eclipse's path of totality (in blue) delivered a glancing blow only to the extreme northwestern states, but the event was partially visible through the south-facing windows of little ol' Beaser Elementary School in Ashland, Wisconsin....on the shore of Lake Superior. ;-) |
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| Animation Courtesy of Andrew Sinclair http://web.archive.org/web/20080121012947/http://members.aol.com/eclsat3 |
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August 21, 2017 - A total solar eclipse will sweep straight through the center of the U.S., with the "path of totality" being visible in a number of states, from west coast to east coast.
Images courtesy of Eclipse Predictions by Fred Espenak, NASA's GSFC - http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/.
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It's only going to last less than three minutes, but what a potent show it's going to be. And how cool would it be if I were on the road somewhere, living nebulously, when it occurs?
But honestly, how cool would it be to view even if I'm not actually on 1/48/50, even if August 21 turns out to be just any old Monday? The eclipse will be visible from all over, but I really like the thought of viewing it from somewhere in the path of totality. I might just take a mini-road trip, if I can. I'm only nine hours from Carbondale, Illinois.
I could drive that in my sleep.
If I'm going to do it, however, I better make arrangements now...or be prepared to sleep in my car.
I guess I could do that in my sleep too. ;-)
