On Monday, August 21st, 2017 there will be a Total Solar Eclipse visible in the United States. In commemoration of this event, KIWA and Sheldon Eyecare Center are teaming up for a FUN GIVEAWAY!
In honor of the 2017 Eclipse, the U.S. Postal Service has issued a special edition heat sensitive, color changing eclipse stamp. Starting on Monday, August 14th, listeners can win a sheet of 16 of these special edition stamps by being the correct caller and answering an Eclipse Trivia Fact (listed below). Stamps may be picked up at Sheldon Eyecare Center, located at 928 3rd Ave. in downtown Sheldon. A GRAND PRIZE winner will be drawn from the winners for a FREE eye exam by Sheldon Eyecare Center.
Special Edition 2017 Total Solar Eclipse Stamps
Map images courtesy of Michael Zeiler, www.GreatAmericanEclipse.com.
Eclipse Facts
*The Total Solar Eclipse will take place on Monday, August 21, 2017 & will last approximately 2 minutes and 40 seconds.
* The next TOTAL Eclipse won’t happen until 2024.
*Eleven of the U.S. states sit directly in the path of the 2017 event: Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina.
*Looking directly at a total solar eclipse can cause blindness.
*You can safely view a solar eclipse through a #14 or darker welding filter or by using special glasses.
*A total solar eclipse causes a decrease in temperature of up to 20 degrees.
*The corona, the outer atmosphere of the sun, can only be seen during a total solar eclipse.
*After a total solar eclipse, it takes about an hour before total day light is restored.
*Almost identical eclipses occur after 18 years and 11 days – known as the Saros Cycle.
*If you are at the North or South Poles, you cannot view a total solar eclipse.
*A total solar eclipse can last as long as 7 minutes and 32 seconds.
*Most solar eclipses are partial with a total solar eclipse occurring once every 1 and a half years.
*On average, there are no less than 2 and no more than 5 solar eclipses per year world wide.
*In ancient times, people thought an eclipse was a sign that the gods were angry or that bad things were about to happen.
*The word “eclipse” comes from the Greek, meaning abandonment or downfall.
*During a total solar eclipse day time looks more like twilight.
*Because the Moon is slowly drifting away from Earth, in about a million years a solar eclipse will not even be noticeable.
*269 km (approximately 167 miles) is the maximum width of the path of totality.
*The speed of the Moon as it moves across the Sun is approximately 2,250 km (1,398 miles) per hour.
*The total solar eclipse, when the Moon completely obscures the Sun and leaves only the faint solar corona, is known as a Totality.
*There are three types of solar eclipse: Partial Solar Eclipse, Annular Eclipse, and Total Eclipse.
*A Partial solar eclipse is when the Moon does not line up completely with the Sun, and so only partially blocks the sunlight from reaching Earth.
*An Annular solar eclipse is when the Moon and the Sun are both exactly in line but either the Moon is further from Earth or the Earth is closer to the Sun. When this happens, the apparent size of the Moon is smaller than that of the Sun and the Sun then appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the dark disk of the Moon.
*A Total eclipse happens when the dark silhouette of the Moon completely covers the intense bright light of the Sun. Only the much fainter solar corona is visible during a total eclipse.
*Only one large city has a great view.Congratulations if you’re one of the 609,000 people lucky enough to live in Nashville, TN.
*This eclipse will be the most-viewed ever. This is based on four factors: 1) the attention it will get from the media; 2) the coverage of the highway system in our country; 3) the typical weather on that date; and 4) the vast number of people who will have access to it from nearby large cities.
*First contact is in Oregon.
*Everyone in the continental U.S. will see at least a partial eclipse.
*A solar eclipse happens at New Moon, when the moon is between the Sun and the Earth.
*This will be the first total solar eclipse in the continental U.S. in 38 years.
*The last total solar eclipse occurred February 26, 1979. Not many people saw it, as it clipped just 5 states in the Northwest and the weather for the most part was bleak. Before that one, you have to go back to March 7, 1970.
*Residents in Sheldon, IA will be able to see 93% totality.
*The eclipse will begin in Sheldon at 11:38 am, reach MAXIMIM at 1:03 p.m., and end at 2:27 pm.
