Episode 111
Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017
Tue, 2017-Aug-22 01:45 UTC
Length - 3:39
Direct Link
Welcome to popular Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of a popular Wikipedia page every day.
With 888,690 views on Monday, 21 August 2017 our article of the day is Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017.
On Monday, August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse, frequently referred to as the "Great American Eclipse", was visible within a band across the entire contiguous United States passing from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast. In other countries it was only visible as a partial eclipse.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometers wide.
The previous time a total solar eclipse was visible across the entire contiguous United States was during the June 8, 1918, eclipse, and not since the February 1979 eclipse has a total eclipse been visible from anywhere in the mainland United States. The path of totality touched 14 states, although a partial eclipse was visible in all fifty states. The area of the path of totality was about 16% of the area of the United States, although most of this area is over the ocean and not over land within the United States. The event's shadow began to cover land on the Oregon coast as a partial eclipse at 4:06 p.m. UTC (9:06 a.m. PDT) on August 21, and its land coverage ended later that day as a partial eclipse along the South Carolina coast at about 6:44 p.m. UTC (2:44 p.m. EDT). Visibility as a partial eclipse in Honolulu, Hawaii began with sunrise at 4:20 p.m. UTC (6:20 a.m. HST) and ended by 5:25 p.m. UTC (7:25 a.m. HST).
There are expected to be logistical problems with the influx of visitors, especially for smaller communities. There have also been problems with the sale of fake eclipse glasses.
Future total solar eclipses will cross the United States in April 2024 (12 states) and August 2045 (10 states), and annular solar eclipses—meaning the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun—will occur in October 2023 (9 states) and June 2048 (9 states).
This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:45 UTC on Tuesday, 22 August 2017.
For the full current version of the article, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_August_21,_2017.
This podcast is produced by Abulsme Productions based on Wikipedia content and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Abulsme Productions also produces Curmudgeon's Corner, a weekly current events podcast where the hosts discuss whatever is hot in the news each week. Check it out in your podcast player of choice.
This has been Raveena. Thank you for listening to popular Wiki of the Day. If you enjoyed this podcast, you can find our archive, and our sister podcasts random Wiki of the Day and featured Wiki of the Day at wikioftheday.com. Subscribe and tell your friends to listen as well!
|
|
Buy WotD Stuff!!
