Today a total solar eclipse will pass over tens of millions of people in a 70-mile-wide swath across the United States about 2,500 miles long. It’s been 99 years since an eclipse has crossed coast to coast, and there are a lot more people around to see it this time.
It starts in Oregon around noon our time, travels across 14 states, and finishes up its continental tour in South Carolina around 10 minutes before 3:00 this afternoon. Here in Eastern Massachusetts, we’ll see about a 63 percent eclipse around 2:45 this afternoon.
Here are some places to watch the partial eclipse in our region:
- Maria Mitchell Association on Nantucket
- The Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham
- Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster
- Heritage Museums & Gardens in Sandwich
- The Umass Dartmouth Observatory
- Many public libraries on Cape Cod, the Islands, and the South Coast.
Today on Living Lab Radio, we hear from:
- Regina Jorgenson of the Maria Mitchell Association, who is in Oregon to watch the total eclipse.
- Kristin Weaver of the Globe Observer Program, which is encouraging people to do citizen science today, even in the partial eclipse zone.
- Jay Pasachoff of Williams College, who holds the record for seeing the most solar eclipses of anyone.
- Anthoni Aveni, author of the new book, In the Shadow of the Moon, which looks at eclipses from the standpoint of a cultural astronomer.