This year, the 65-mile wide path of totality with sweep, sash-like, across the country-entering the map at Oregon and exiting at South Carolina. It’s been 99 years since an total eclipse crossed the width the United States. Map credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio To see one requires you to be in just the right place on earth, and a total eclipse in the same location only happens every 375 years on average. While eclipses aren’t rare, a total eclipse, when viewers from Earth are at the very center of the moon’s shadow, only happens once every 18 months. An eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, blocking the light of the sun from reaching us. Skywatchers on the American continent today are in for a special astronomical treat: front row seats to a total solar eclipse.
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