The Total Solar Eclipse of 2017 (Invited Presentation) (Core Science Lecture)

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth - causing the Moon to block the light from the Sun. Typically the Moon only partially blocks the Sun’s light during an eclipse, however occasionally the Moon completely blocks the Sun, causing a total solar eclipse. In just under eight months, on August 21 2017, we will witness one of those occasions - the first in the continental US since 1979 - when a total solar eclipse will bisect the country. In just ninety-one minutes the sixty-five mile wide umbra of the eclipse will pass over thirteen states from Oregon to South Carolina. For many people across the US, who are under the "path of totality," day will turn to night for two minutes during this time and the Sun’s enigmatic faint extended atmosphere, or “corona,” will shine in the dark sky. I will discuss the human eclipse experience, messages that the scientific community can relay to the general public, and the scientific experiments that can be done.