The Great American Eclipse (2017)
For the first time in 99 years the shadow crossed the US coast to coast.
📍 Visible from where you are right now — computed in your browser
bearing · altitude · rise time · best time tonight
The moment of The Great American Eclipse (2017): https://nowsky.org/e/eclipse-2017 — opens at the right place and time, replayable, no login.
Available views: Orbit ✓ · Sky ✓
The story
On 21 August 2017 the shadow of totality came ashore in Oregon and left through South Carolina ninety minutes later — the "Great American Eclipse", the first to cross the United States from coast to coast in 99 years. The path was 110 km wide, and totality peaked at 2 minutes 40 seconds in southern Illinois.
Surveys found that 88 percent of the US population saw the eclipse in some form. Twelve million people lived inside the path and as many again travelled into it. Nashville was the largest city in the path, and its downtown street lights came on for two minutes of totality.
Falling at solar minimum, the corona showed the classic shape stretched along the equator — a fine contrast with the corona of the 2024 eclipse at solar maximum, which flared in every direction. The signature achievement was Citizen CATE, a relay of 68 telescopes along the path that photographed the corona continuously for ninety minutes.
The enthusiasm it lit carried through to the great eclipse of 8 April 2024 seven years later, and the festivals in national parks and small towns along the path set the pattern. The sky view replay brings back those two minutes over Nashville.
Why it matters
The 2017 eclipse is remembered for the democratisation of eclipse science. Beyond Citizen CATE, millions of smartphone photographs built a shadow map, and much of the data on temperature drops, animal behaviour and power demand came from the public. NASA used the experience directly in designing the citizen-science programme for 2024.
It was also the first large-scale test of a power grid with significant solar generation — the first total eclipse since solar passed one percent of US supply. Grid operators in California and North Carolina planned for a drop of several gigawatts, and the procedures became standard for 2024.
It was the first total eclipse on the US mainland in 38 years, since 1979 — the first for two generations. The path of the 2024 eclipse crossed this one in southern Illinois, giving some places two totalities seven years apart.
How to watch
Choose the 2017 eclipse in the sky view's event list to replay totality over Nashville at 1:27 pm local time on 21 August — the black Sun high in the sky with Venus, Jupiter and Regulus appearing beside it. Move the location to Madras, Oregon or Carbondale, Illinois and the timing shifts.
The previous eclipse of the same Saros series (145) was the 1999 crossing of Europe, and the next is 2 September 2035 over northern Korea and Japan; the corona's orientation and the Sun's altitude at all three can be compared in the sky view.
The orbit view's event replay shows the Moon's shadow cone sweeping across North America from west to east. The next US total eclipse is 23 August 2044 (Montana and the Dakotas), and on 12 August 2045 the path crosses the continent again.
See this for yourself — open that sky at that moment · replay the moment in the orbit view
Background
The previous coast-to-coast eclipse was 8 June 1918; the 26 February 1979 eclipse touched only Washington, Oregon and Montana, and the 11 July 1991 eclipse crossed Hawaii but not the mainland.
Twelve million people lived in the path and an estimated five to seven million travelled into it. Highways in Oregon, Wyoming and South Carolina were jammed into the next day, lessons that fed the traffic planning for Texas and Indiana in 2024.
Astronauts on the International Space Station photographed the Moon's shadow crossing Earth three times from orbit, and two NASA research jets chased the shadow at supersonic speed to photograph the corona continuously for seven minutes.
The shadow of the 2017 eclipse slowed from 3,900 km/h as it came ashore in Oregon to 2,400 km/h in South Carolina — Earth’s rotation runs in the same direction as the shadow, so the relative speed falls toward the east. Totality therefore grew from two minutes on the west coast to 2 minutes 40 seconds in the middle of the country before shrinking again on the east coast. Two NASA WB-57 research aircraft chased the shadow at 750 km/h and observed totality continuously for more than seven minutes — three times longer than from the ground.
FAQ
How long was totality?
Up to 2 minutes 40 seconds in southern Illinois, and about 2 minutes in Nashville.
Why the Great American Eclipse?
It was the first coast-to-coast crossing of the United States in 99 years, and 88 percent of the population saw it.
How did it differ from 2024?
2017 fell at solar minimum with an equatorial corona; 2024 at maximum with a corona in every direction and longer totality.
When is the next US total eclipse?
23 August 2044 over Montana and the Dakotas, then a coast-to-coast crossing on 12 August 2045.
Related
- Total eclipse — across Europe (1999)
- Total solar eclipse of September 2035
- Total eclipse — longest of the century
- The Sun — object index
- The Moon — object index
Times and figures are approximate — verify with official sources when planning travel. Simulation uses J2000 mean elements.