Total Solar Eclipse 101: Are you ready? 🌗

On Monday, August 21 at 2:41 p.m., Columbia will go dark for 2 mins + 36 secs for the Total Solar Eclipse. That’s less than two months away. Here’s what you need to know. ⬇

Total solar eclipse ➡ when the moon 🌑 moves directly between the Earth 🌎 + the Sun 🌞 – and the entire Sun is covered by the moon, which casts a path of the darkest of shadows on Earth. You must be in this path – a.k.a. the path of totality, running diagonally across the U.S. from Oregon to S.C. – to witness the eclipse’s most dramatic effects – and Cola is smack-dab in the middle of that path in S.C.

The path starts in Oregon at ~1 p.m. EDT + will travel 1,000 MPH, exiting the U.S. via Charleston, S.C. at 2:49 EDT.

What will happen: ⬇

🌓 1:13 p.m. ➡ partial eclipse begins | sky darkens gradually, then very suddenly

you’ll need protective glasses to view the partial eclipses before + after totality 😎

🌑 2:41 ➡ total solar eclipse begins | 100% total darkness for 2 mins + 36 secs

360-degree sunset around the entire horizon
stars + bright planets like Mars, Venus, Mercury & Jupiter become visible 🌟
a corona of light – or “diamond ring” 💍 – circles the sun
temperature drops 5-15 degrees
nocturnal animals emerge

🌗 2:44 p.m. ➡ after 2 mins + 36 secs, total eclipse is over ➡ now, another partial eclipse

birds chirp as if it’s daybreak 🐤
resume wearing protective glasses

🌕 4:06 p.m. ➡ sun no longer obscured by the moon at all; eclipse is over + total daylight returns

Why it’s a huge deal: ⬇

🌖 Cola is the third largest U.S. city on the centerline of the path of totality + will experience the longest 100% total eclipse on the East Coast for a metro area

🌗 “Close is not close enough.” ➡ Greenville will only see 2 mins + 10 secs of totality; Charleston will only see 1 min + 30 secs

🌗 Most of the U.S. will only experience a partial eclipse

🌘 This is the first total solar eclipse in mainland United States since 1979 – and the first total solar eclipse to make a coast-to-coast path across the U.S. since 1918

🌘 It will be the last eclipse visible in Cola until 2078. Talk about once in a lifetime.

🌗 S.C. could see up to 1 million visitors; named as an eclipse destination by Thrillist just yesterday; plus in USA Today, Forbes + Washington Post

From the experts at UofSC, DYK? ⬇

🌖 The Sun’s corona (Latin for “crown”) will be visible with the naked eye during the period of totality. And you don’t need to wear special glasses to see it! -Dr. Steven Rodney

🌗 The early Chinese word for eclipse meant ‘to eat’ or ‘to swallow.’ The idea was that a supernatural being was swallowing the moon or the sun during an eclipse. It was considered a bad omen. -Michael Weisenburg

🌘 Total solar eclipses won’t happen forever on Earth... in ~500 million years, the moon will appear small enough that it won’t completely obscure the sun during a solar eclipse. -Dr. Varsha Kulkarni

August 21st is shaping up to be totally out of this world – and •every• Cola establishment wants to host you at their far-out viewing parties. Check out the full list of where to watch here.

I’m having a majorly hard time deciding between the Total Eclipse of the Park at Spirit Communications Park, the Solar 17 Lake Murray viewing festival at the dam, the Super VIP Lunch & Viewing Party with an open bar at Motor Supply Co. Bistro and the Historic Eclipse in the Gardens at the Robert Mills House. Maybe scientists will develop cloning technology in the next two months so I can fulfill all of my wildest total Colar eclipse dreams. 😎

– Beth

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