Tracking the solar eclipse
From west to east, the following gives the estimated time the total solar eclipse will begin and the duration of totality in specific locations in Southeast Tennessee.Location, Duration, When it BeginsSparta: 2 minutes, 39 seconds 1:30:03.9 CDTSpencer: 2 minutes 26 seconds 1:30:27.7 CDTFall Creek Falls: 2 minutes, 39 seconds 1:30:50.3 CDTPikeville: 2 minutes, 25 seconds 1:31:12.7 CDTSpring City: 2 minutes, 39 seconds 2:31:38.4Dayton: 2 minutes, 21 seconds 2:31:45.5Graysville: 2 minutes, 8 seconds 2:31:47.8Dunlap: 42 seconds 2:31:59.1Decatur: 2 minutes, 34 seconds 2:32:04.6Niota: 2 minutes, 38 seconds 2:32:31.9Sweetwater: 2 minutes, 37 seconds 2:32:35.6Athens: 2 minutes, 35 seconds 2:32:34.1Madisonville: 2 minutes, 38 seconds 2:32:53.1Etowah: 2 minutes, 28 seconds 2:32:56.1Vonore: 2 minutes, 31 seconds 2:33:06.6Cleveland: 1 minute, 3 seconds 2:33:09.7Benton: 1 minute, 51 seconds 2:33:11.9Tellico Plains: 2 minutes, 37 seconds 2:33:15.7Ocoee: 1 minute, 22 seconds 2:33:22.5Copperhill: 1 minute, 38 seconds 2:34:10.4Murphy, N.C.: 2 minutes, 27 seconds 2:34:16.4Clingman’s Dome: 1 minute, 26 seconds 2:35:12.1Source: 2006-2017 Xavier M. Jubier’s 2017 total solar eclipse Google map
Millions of Americans will look to the sky on Aug. 21 and experience a celestial phenomenon that could mark their lives forever.
That afternoon a large swath of the U.S., including portions of Tennessee, will momentarily plunge into darkness as the enormous orb that’s in the sky during the day is blotted out by the one that’s usually seen up there at night.
“Many people have seen a partial eclipse of the sun, but it’s nothing like a total eclipse of the sun,” said Mark Littmann, University of Tennessee solar eclipse expert and author. “For an eclipse of the sun, 99 percent (totality) is a failing grade.”
Littmann, who witnessed total solar eclipses around the globe in 1979, 1991, 1994, 1998 and 1999, said there are at least two eclipses – usually partial – every year. In 2018 there will be three partial eclipses worldwide, but none in the U.S.