Eclipse 2017!

Where were YOU when it happened?  I was at work watching the eclipse out of the window of my second floor office with my coworkers.

I won this pretty coin at the Washington State Geocaching Association's North 48 Holiday Hoopla in 2017. 

          The solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, dubbed "The Great American Eclipse" by the media, was a total solar eclipse visible within a band across the entire contiguous United States, passing from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts. As a partial solar eclipse, it was visible on land from Nunavut, in northern Canada, to as far south as northern South America. In northwestern Europe and Africa, it was partially visible in the late evening. In Asia, it was visible only at the eastern extremity, the Chukchi Peninsula.

          Prior to this event, no solar eclipse had been visible across the entire contiguous United States since June 8, 1918.  Not since the February 1979 eclipse had a total eclipse been visible from anywhere in the mainland United States.  The path of totality touched 14 states, and the rest of the U.S. had a partial eclipse.  The area of the path of totality was about 16 percent of the area of the United States, with most of this area over the ocean, not land. The event's shadow began to cover land on the Oregon coast as a partial eclipse at 9:05 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, with the total eclipse beginning there at 10:16 a.m. PDT.  The total eclipse's land coverage ended along the South Carolina coast at about 2:44 p.m. Eastern daylight Time.  Visibility as a partial eclipse in Honolulu, Hawaii began with sunrise at 6:20 a.m. Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time and ended by 7:25 a.m. HST.

          This total solar eclipse marked the first such event in the smartphone and social media era in America. Information, personal communication, and photography were widely available as never before, capturing popular attention and enhancing the social experience.

          Marriage proposals took place coinciding with the eclipse, and at least one wedding was also planned and took place to coincide with the eclipse.  Logistical problems were expected with the influx of visitors, especially for smaller communities.  The sale of counterfeit eclipse glasses was also anticipated to be a hazard for eye injuries.