Countdown begins to total solar eclipse across U.S.

Record ID: 896405

  • Title: Countdown begins to total solar eclipse across U.S.
  • Date: 21st June 2017
  • Summary: GREENBELT, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES (JUNE 21, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) NASA SCIENTIST, DR. NICHOLEEN VIALL, SAYING: "Scientists are super excited about the total solar eclipse. I'm excited about the solar eclipse, because you get to see the solar corona, and that's the part of the sun that I study. The solar corona is very hot, millions of degrees, many orders of magnitude hotter than the surface below it, the surface of the sun. That's really weird. That'd be like if you walked away from a fireplace and it kept getting hotter. So, we want to understand why that is. In addition, the corona is a place where giant magnetic explosions happen, releasing plasma, a magnetic field, out into the solar system. That impacts the Earth; that also impacts the other planets."
  • Embargoed: 5th July 2017 17:03
  • Keywords: total solar eclipse NASA eclipse animation NASA eclipse
  • Location: GREENBELT, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES / ANIMATION / UNIDENTIFIED
  • City: GREENBELT, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES / ANIMATION / UNIDENTIFIED
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Science,Space Exploration
  • Reuters ID: LVA0066M837EV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Two months before the first total solar eclipse to cross the continental United States in a century, NASA on Wednesday (June 21) is expected to detail its plans to study and promote a celestial show that will darken skies from Oregon to South Carolina.
    During the August 21 eclipse, the moon will pass between the sun and Earth, blocking the face of the sun and leaving only its outer atmosphere, or corona, visible in the sky.
    It is the first coast-to-coast total eclipse since 1918.
    Weather permitting, astronomy enthusiasts can watch as the moon's 70-mile (113-km.) wide shadow crosses the country, starting at 10:15 a.m. PDT (1715 GMT) around Lincoln Beach, Oregon, and ending at 2:49 p.m. EDT (1849 GMT) in McClellanville, South Carolina.
    Total solar eclipses occur somewhere on Earth every year or so, but most cast their shadow over oceans or remote land. The last time a part of the contiguous U.S. saw a total eclipse was in 1979.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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