Exterior, the crest of the highway. A farmer leans against her tractor. A family picnics outside their motorhome. A couple of bikers look up at the sky through extra dark shades. Cars, trucks and RVs are bumper to bumper.
Over horns and laughter, there’s a battle between stereo systems. “Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone.” “Nothing I can say. A total eclipse of the heart.”
A scene maybe from Close Encounters of the Third Kind or Independence Day?
Nope, expectations for Aug. 21, when the Great American Eclipse of 2017 occurs from coast to coast.
“This will be like Woodstock 200 times over — but across the whole country,” said Alex Young, solar scientist with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
A total solar eclipse will be viewable throughout a 70-mile wide path that crosses 14 states, from Oregon to South Carolina.
The umbra — or dark inner shadow — of the moon will travel from west to east, from almost 3,000 mph in western Oregon to 1,500 mph in South Carolina.
About 12.2 million people live in the path of the total eclipse and about two-thirds of the nation’s population live within a day’s drive of seeing totality — for Wisconsinites it’s as close as southern Illinois or Missouri.
Those who stay in Wisconsin — and put on a pair of “eclipse glasses” — will see a partial solar eclipse, about 80 percent to 90 percent, depending on the location. In the Milwaukee area, there will be coverage of about 83 percent, with the eclipse beginning about 11:50 a.m. and continuing to around 2:40 p.m.
“You are going to be watching the solar system move,” said Alan J. Peche, director of the Barlow Planetarium at the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley. “That’s going to be cool. When the moon starts to cover up the sun and takes a bite out of it, well, I love those transition times.”
“Regardless of where you are in the United States on Aug. 21, you are going to want to be a part of this,” observed astronomy enthusiast Mike Jones of Lake Geneva. “What’s the last monumental good thing we’ve shared as a country?”
‘A generational event’
How monumental is the event?
The last total eclipse in the United States occurred Feb. 26, 1979, but the last total eclipse that crossed the entire continent occurred June 8, 1918.
Scientists and educators at universities, museums and observatories are helping Wisconsinites make the most of the partial eclipse. In the weeks before, institutions are hosting lectures, screening planetarium shows and organizing viewing parties.
“Wisconsin has some of the most active astronomy clubs in the country, and also some of the most famous observatories,” said skywatcher T. G. Gallant of Waukesha. “Plus, we have exceptional educational centers and museums. Anyone who wants to participate in the partial has a place to go in Wisconsin.”
Gallant has plans to visit the Milwaukee Public Museum’s eclipse preview before she departs for Columbia, Missouri, to experience what NASA is calling the “2017 Eclipse Across America, when the sun and moon align with you.”
On Eclipse Day, Gallant will be joining about 70,000 people in Faurot Field at University of Missouri’s Memorial Stadium to watch the total eclipse — totality there will last about 2 minutes and 37 seconds.
Bob Allen, the planetarium director at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, also will be traveling to experience the total eclipse. He’s an expert eclipse-chaser, having led a group of 30 people to Brandon, Manitoba, to experience the total solar eclipse in 1979 and a group of 12 to Hawaii in 1991.
“I am going with a couple of friends to see this one,” he said.
From the Milwaukee Public Museum, director Bob Bonadurer is leading a tour of eclipse-chasers to Missouri and southern Illinois.
Another eclipse-chaser, Peche, has been waiting for the opportunity for decades and he’ll be traveling with family to the centerline in southern Missouri.
He knows what to expect with totality Aug. 21: There will be about 2 minutes or so when day will turn to night. Bright stars and planets will be visible during totality. Birds will fly to their nighttime roosts. Nocturnal insects will chirp and buzz. Temperatures will drop.
“Orion will be way off to the West,” Peche said. “Wildlife will start to think it is nighttime. It will go black like it’s midnight.”
He continued, “It’s an amazing thing. I’ve never experienced the total eclipse, but I know I’ll never forget it.”
“This is a generational event,” said Madhulika Guhathakurta, NASA’s lead scientist for the 2017 eclipse. “This is going to be the most documented, the most appreciated eclipse ever.”
Since the last total eclipse that crossed the continent was nearly a century ago, scientists are eager to test the latest technology and tools — and theories. NASA alone plans to collect information from 50 high-altitude balloons, 11 satellites and hundreds of stations on the ground.
Plus, scientists expect casual skywatchers to help document the event, a rare opportunity to observe the solar corona, the outer atmosphere of the sun usually obscured by the bright surface of the sun. The moon will align exactly with the sun’s surface, enabling observations of the entire corona.
“This total eclipse … is a fundamentally unique opportunity in modern times, enabling the entire country to be engaged with modern technology and social media,” said Carrie Black, an associate program director at the National Science Foundation. “Images and data from … millions of people will be collected and analyzed by scientists for years to come.”
Plan ahead and stock up
While NASA is rallying for the eclipse, the Federal Highway Administration is stressing caution for a “special event for which there has been no recent precedent in the United States.” Some are predicting the largest temporary mass migration of people in the United States the week of the eclipse.
“We’re encouraging people to put in some extra effort to plan their travel ahead of time, as this isn’t your average travel weekend,” a recent FHA statement advised.
Plenty of people have planned, as accommodations — hotels, motels, campgrounds and vacation rentals — are booked along the centerline across the country.
Peche, for example, booked his rooms about a year ago — as soon as reservations could be made.
The FHA also advised people traveling to the centerline to bring food, water and other supplies.
Peche said he’s prepared. He previously resided in Florida, and he made preparations the way Floridians ready for hurricane season and a possible evacuation.
“If you are going to the centerline, you might want to take toilet paper,” said Peche, who’s heard that all the port-a-potties in Missouri have been leased for Aug. 21 — and may not be in the best condition by Aug. 22.
Gallant also is stocking up on snacks, water, toilet paper and cash.
“This is going to tax everything,” Gallant said. “But for a couple hours, I think we’ll all stop right where we are and look to the sky. And won’t that be the greatest?”
Eclipse events
If “planetarium” or “astronomy” is associated with an institution or organization in your community, odds are there will be an eclipse event of some kind on the calendar.
A sampling for Wisconsin:
- The Milwaukee Public Museum, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Aug. 21, hosts “Eclipse Across America” and provides live-stream video of the eclipse, as well as views through telescopes and shows in the Dome Theater and Planetarium. MPM also is selling “eclipse glasses” while supplies last. Eclipse preview programs are July 29 and Aug. 12. For more, go to mpm.edu.
- The Solar Eclipse Extravaganza Aug. 21 at Mill Road Library in Milwaukee features wandering astronomers, an inflatable planetarium, live-streaming feeds of the eclipse, arts and crafts, and history programs. For more, go to mpl.org.
- The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Planetarium presents A Total Solar Eclipse Experience July 29, Aug. 5 and Aug. 12 for those seeking a preview of what’s to come Aug. 21. More details are at uwlax/edu/planetarium.
- The La Crosse Area Astronomical Society plans an observing session Aug. 21 in Riverside Park in La Crosse.
- Space Place, an outreach center of the UW-Madison Astronomy Department, is selling “eclipse glasses.” Also, Dr. Jim Lattis, the Space Place director, lectures on “The Great American Eclipse” Aug. 8.
- An Eclipse Party to view the event takes place Aug. 21 at the Paper Discovery Center in Appleton. For more, go to paperdiscoverycenter.
- Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay hosts an observing celebration 11:30 a.m.–3 p.m. Aug. 21. For more, go yerkesoutreach.org.
- Barlow Planetarium at University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley in Menasha offers an eclipse preview July 29 and is selling “eclipse glasses.” For more, go to uwfox.uwc.edu/barlow-planetarium.
- A viewing event takes place 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Aug. 21 at Harrington Beach State Park in Belgium.
For updates to these listings, go online to wisconsingazette.com. Send notices of eclipse-related events to lmneff@wisconsingazette.com.
Say what…
Eclipse: An alignment of astronomical objects in which a planetary object comes between the sun and another planetary object — like the moon between the sun and the Earth.
Partial solar eclipse: When the moon passes in front of the sun, blocking part of the photosphere — the bright, visible surface of the sun.
Total solar eclipse: When the alignment of the sun, moon and Earth cause the moon to appear to block the entire face of the sun.
Totality: The period during a solar eclipse when the sun’s photosphere is covered by the moon.
Transit: A celestial body appearing to move across the face of another celestial body.
Corona: The upper atmosphere of the sun; it appears as a halo around the sun during a total solar eclipse.
On the web
eclipse2017.nasa.gov for maps, science, event listings, histories and links.
Note: This story originally published in the Wisconsin Gazette.