Biggest Astronomy Event: Total Solar Eclipse Will Cover All US States For First Time in 100 Years

Total Solar Eclipse Expected to Cover Entire US states This August

The US will host the biggest astronomy event for the first time in 100 years as a total solar eclipse is expected to cover all states in August.

The phenomenon is expected to make a place in history as well. A huge number of skywatchers will be looking up in the sky for two minutes as the entire US goes dark on August 21.

A solar eclipse happens when the moon gets between Earth and the sun, and the moon casts a shadow over Earth. Total solar eclipses occur when the two objects line up with the Earth where the the moon covers up the entirety of the sun. On the average, a total eclipse occurs somewhere on Earth about every 18 months.

The Big Day

The big day is August 21. The moon will pass in front of the sun and this will be witnessed by all states. Although not all will see the total solar eclipse,t everyone will see the amazing phenomenon. Even those people living in the least eclipsed places will see the moon cover up 55 per cent of it.

Those who are living in 14 states, starting in South Carolina and moving north-west across the US to end in Oregon, will be the luckiest, as they will see a total solar eclipse.

A total solar eclipse.
A total solar eclipse.

The Two Minute Show

The darkness is estimated to last for two minutes. The shadow moves at about 1,500 miles per hour as it moves across the US. The phenomenon will go coast-to-coast for the first time in 99 years, covering the entire landmass in just 90 minutes.

However, for those who will miss the phenomenon, don’t worry, there will be another total solar eclipse in 2024. The last total solar eclipse that covered the entire United States occurred in 1979.

Mina Fabulous follows the news, especially what is going on in the US State Department. Mina turns State Department waffle into plain English. Mina Fabulous is the pen name of Carmen Avalino, the NewsBlaze production editor. When she isn’t preparing stories for NewsBlaze writers, she writes stories, but to separate her editing and writing identities, she uses the name given by her family and friends.