Times Union: Great American Eclipse of 2017 is Fast Approaching: ‘Hit this one if you can’

Link to article: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2017-07-21/great-american-eclipse-2017-fast-approaching-hit-one-if-you-can

Mike Reynolds really wants you to see the Great American Eclipse of 2017, during which darkness will descend upon a 70-mile swath of America, coast-to-coast, from Oregon to South Carolina.

That darkness — the path of totality — is so temptingly close to Jacksonville, after all. And on Aug. 21, you really, really, really need to be there, Reynolds says, if there’s any way possible.

Not near it. In it.

Reynolds has seen 18 total solar eclipses, from Waycross, Ga., in 1970 to a cruise ship north of New Zealand in 2012. That’s a lot of effort for a couple of minutes of wondrous darkness, to be sure.

Just let him explain his quest.

“Look, I know you think I’m crazy. But look at one, then tell me that afterward. You can’t describe it. I call it whole body-engagement: The temperature drops, the wind picks up because the earth’s cooling, the colors around the horizon look like sunsets and sunrises all at once, Venus pops out 10 minutes before totality, other planets and stars become visible.”

As the moon moves across the face of the sun in a total eclipse, the naked eye can see the sun’s corona surrounding the disk.

The shadow of the eclipse is expected to race at 1,600 mph across the country. Reynolds recalls one eclipse when he saw a shadow that was so fast, so defined, that his instincts overrode his knowledge — he’s a Ph.D astronomer — and he ducked, fearing it would slam into him.

He goes on: At Waycross, he saw cows trudge by habit toward the barn as darkness came, then move back into the field when the sun reappeared.

What about the people with whom he’s seen eclipses?

“I’ve seen people cry. I’ve seen people choke with joy. I’ve seen people laugh. I’ve seen people pray. If you haven’t experienced it, there’s no way I can describe it.”

In South Carolina, the path of totality takes in cities such as Greenville, Columbia and Charleston. In the center of that path, darkness will last about 2½ minutes; on its edges, it could be just a matter of seconds.

Be warned: Those willing to put themselves in the path of totality should be planning ahead. Expect apocalyptic traffic conditions and not a single hotel or camping reservation to be found.

Outside the path, even with the moon covering up 95 percent or more of the sun, the eclipse will be far less spectacular.

You’d have to go back to 1979 to find the last full solar eclipse in the U.S., and that was over a much smaller swath of land.

The last coast-to-coast eclipse was 100 years ago. The next will be in 2045; if you can wait that long, it will put much of Florida in the path of totality, though not the northeastern corner of the state.

Jose Pagan isn’t going to wait until then. He and about 15 other University of North Florida students will camp Aug. 21 at Coneross Park in upstate Townville, S.C. It’s the only camping site in the path of totality that they could find in South Carolina.

“I’m super-jazzed,” he said. “There are people who describe being able to see the actual shadow rush toward you. It sounds very mind-blowing.”

The great eclipse coincides with the first day of fall classes, but Pagan — a senior physics major and president of the UNF Astronomy Club — hopes professors understand (they should; the university is already planning viewing events on campus that day).

The Astronomy Club’s adviser, assistant physics professor Jack Hewitt, certainly understands: That day he’ll be atop Bald Mountain in Idaho, site of an astronomy conference and right in the path of totality.

With unobstructed 360-degree views and, he hopes, clear skies, the eclipse — his first — could be exceptional.

“It’s supposed to be one of the most amazing things you can see,” Hewitt said. “And I’ll have about a minute to take it in.”

Reynolds, a professor of astronomy at Florida State College of Jacksonville, is an enthusiastic promoter of astronomy and science. He figures he’s spoken about the eclipse to 20,000 people across the country during the last six months.

“The interest,” he said, “is phenomenal.”

More than year ago, he told people he would be trying to find an ideal place to see it. One-hundred people quickly signed up to go with him to St. Joseph, Mo.

To find that spot, he drove the entire path of totality, from coast-t0-coast. He wanted enough hotel rooms, unobstructed views, a good chance of clear weather and easy access to roads east or west (you better believe he’s not going to just sit there if clouds come in).

Reynolds noted that in seven years there will be another total eclipse in the central U.S.

But why wait?

“Hit this one if you can,” he said. “I tell you, if there’s any way you can get there, do it.”

Matt Soergel: (904) 359-4082