Source NASAThe “path of totality,” or shadow of total darkness as the moon blocks the sun on Aug. 21 2017.
*Greatest eclipse is the instant when the axis of the moon’s shadow passes closest to the center of the EarthEclipse facts
› Last total solar eclipse in continental United States: 1979› Last time the “path of totality” crossed the United States from the Pacific to the Atlantic: June 8, 1918, when a total eclipse crossed the United States from Washington State to Florida.› Totality visited the United States in 1905, 1918, 1932, 1945, 1963, 1970, 1972, 1979 and 1991 (in Hawaii)Source: www.greatamericaneclipse.com
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Sun will be blocked briefly during raresolar eclipse nextAugustApproximately 2:30 EDTDuration of the Aug. 21, 2017, total eclipse in the Chattanooga area:› Athens: two minutes, 35 seconds› Benton: one minute, 51 seconds› Cleveland: one minute, three seconds› Dayton: two minutes, 21 seconds› Ducktown: one minute, 48 seconds› Dunlap: 42 seconds› Etowah: two minutes, 28 seconds› McMinnville: one minute, 49 secondsSource: www.eclipse2017.org
Spring City, Tenn., will plunge into darkness for two minutes and 39 seconds on the afternoon of Aug. 21, 2017, when the moon blots out the sun except for its blazing corona during a total solar eclipse that’s been dubbed “The Great American Eclipse” since its path will sweep across 11 states from Oregon to South Carolina.
The Rhea County town of some 2,000 residents on Highway 27 should see an influx of onlookers that Monday afternoon, since Spring City is one of a number of Chattanooga- area communities that fall inside what astronomers call “the path of totality,” or total eclipse, a roughly 70-mile-wide path that will skirt both Chattanooga and Knoxville (which only will see partial eclipses).
“We weren’t planning anything – but I think it’s about time we started,” said Spring City Mayor Billy Ray Patton, who hadn’t heard of the eclipse. “This is a great opportunity for the town of Spring City. We’re always trying to do something to get people to come downtown.”