Click the image above to view a larger version.



Countdown to the Eclipse:





At the Solar Eclipse Workshop in Columbia, Missouri, in August 2014, attendees presented a public observing session.

The Event at Rosecrans Memorial Airport

The map at left (click on it for a larger version) shows the location of Rosecrans Memorial Airport in St. Joseph, Missouri. Note that the path of the centerline of the eclipse skirts the southern end of the airport, making this one of the prime venues for a large group of people to observe the spectacle.





The airport location is longitude 94.9097º west; latitude 39.7719º.

The eclipse begins at 11:40:34 a.m. with the Sun 54.1º high in the southeast.

The total eclipse starts at 1:06:19 p.m. when the Sun is 61.9º high in the south.

Maximum eclipse occurs at 1:07:38 p.m. when the Sun is 61.9º high in the south.

The end of totality is at 1:08:57 p.m. with the Sun 61.9º high in the south.

The eclipse ends at 2:34:27 p.m. when the Sun is 57.9º high in the southwest.


Other notes:

The duration of totality is 2 minutes 38.6 seconds

The width of the Moon’s shadow is 70.15 miles (112.9 kilometers).

The shadow’s speed is 1,584 mph (0.708 km/sec), twice the speed of sound.




Recall that the total solar eclipse occurs August 21, 2017. That date is a Monday. Because of that fortunate happenstance, Front Page Science can take advantage of the weekend to present a vast array of programs. Here are a few of them we’re planning. We’ll list more as we confirm each of them:

  • Teacher workshops
  • Illustrated lectures by experts in astronomy
  • Public solar observing sessions
  • An astronomy-themed concert by the St. Joseph Symphony