Solar firecrackers visible with upcoming eclipse

If you view the solar eclipse on August 21, you may be surprised by the awesome sight of “Solar Fire Crackers.”

In the Midwest, the Moon will completely cover the Sun after 1 p.m. – depending where your viewing area is. Around the moon’s blackened circumference, you will see flares and streams of red gasses resulting from the “Solar Fire Crackers” going off on the surface and corona of the Sun! It can be a beautiful, once-in-a-lifetime sight to personally behold.

If you are in a perfect location of the “totality path,” where the Moon fully blocks the Sun, the experience will last about 2 minutes. You will be surrounded by darkness. The air temperature is expected to quickly drop about 15 degrees. It has been observed on the farms that birds and cows will think it is nighttime – and the cows may head home to eat.

Even more surprising, the rest of the sky will quickly turn black – exposing stars and planets that you would not normally see during daytime. Meanwhile, the Moon will be opaque (the New Moon phase) because there will be no light on it from our viewpoint – the Sun will be shining behind it, on the other side.

All this will occur only if you are somewhere along a 70-mile-wide path across our country where the Moon completely covers the Sun. This phenomenon will begin in Oregon, cross the USA, end in South Carolina, and last about 90 minutes. Our local, closest, “best sighting” location will probably be Carbondale, Illinois.

By the way, the sky will need to be perfectly clear of clouds and haze in the totality path to experience these effects fully. Because we are on the sidelines, our Chicago area will only see about an 80% solar eclipse.

Wherever you are, be sure to wear the “special” eclipse glasses and equipment or you could experience SERIOUS EYE DAMAGE. Be careful!

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