Total Solar Eclipse in August 2017 — Publicize Your Event on an Interactive Map

Did you know that there will be a total solar eclipse, estimated to happen on August 21st, 2017? Unfortunately, people in most regions of Africa, Asia, Australia and Oceania, Europe, and southern South America will not be able to witness this spectacle. Otherwise, many of these areas are prime locations for solar-eclipse events in years past, but not this time. A total or partial solar eclipse — depending on the geographic location — will likely be visible in North America, extreme western Africa (Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Morocco, Senegal, etc.), extreme western Europe (Andorra, Belgium, western France, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, southern Norway, Portugal, Spain, UK, etc.), extreme northeastern Russia, and northern South American territories such as northern and central Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, northern Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.

In the United States, the total eclipse is expected to cross parts of the following states, from east to west: South Carolina, North Carolina (panhandle) Georgia (northeast corner), Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois (southern), Missouri, extreme northeastern Kansas (north of Kansas City), Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon. Are you planning to host an event celebrating the solar eclipse — eclipse-watching party (please protect your eyes), astronomy club meeting, festival, movie night, observatory open house, collegiate lecture, workshop, planetarium show, podcast or webcast, radio or TV show, etc.? If so, there's a map for that! The American Astronomical Society (AAS) website features an interactive events map (↗). This eclipse will be quite historic in many places. According to the Adler Planetarium (↗) in Chicago, for example, seeing a near-total solar eclipse in the Windy City is a rare sight indeed: "The last time Chicago was this close to the path of totality for a total solar eclipse was in 1806—210 years ago!"