- 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: "The total solar eclipse is not all that rare. They happen about every 18 months, but what is rare is to be able to see it in the United States, because most of the Earth is covered in water or not populated. So, for the total solar eclipse to be visible from the United States, that is a rare occurrence. And then this total solar eclipse goes from coast to coast, and that hasn't happened for 99 years, almost a century. So that part is also rare, the fact that the whole country will get to see some form of an eclipse."
- 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: LVA0026M837EV
- 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
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