Total Solar Eclipse Carves Its Path Across the U.S.
All across the country, everyone is googling the same pressing question: what time was the solar eclipse? The answer turns out to be complicated. According to NASA, the solar eclipse started at a different time depending where you were, as the totality made its way across 14 states from coast to coast. Here’s the time the eclipse began at some of the prime viewing locations, courtesy of Newsweek (all times were local):
Madras, Oregon: 10:19 AM
Idaho Falls, Idaho: 11:33 AM
Missoula, Montana 11:31 AM
Casper, Wyoming: 11:42 AM
Lincoln, Nebraska: 1:02 PM
Des Moines, Iowa: 1:08 PM
Topeka, Kansas: 1:08 PM
Jefferson City, Missouri 1:13 PM
Carbondale, Illinois: 1:20 PM
Paducah, Kentucky: 1:22 PM
Nashville, Tennessee: 1:27 PM
Clayton, Georgia: 2:35 PM
Columbia, South Carolina: 2:41 PM
Outside of the path of the totality, the partial eclipse began at 1:23 PM EDT in New York City, at 9:06 AM PDT in Los Angeles, 11: 54 AM CDT in Chicago, and at 1:18 PM EDT in the nation’s capital.
The path of totality for the eclipse in August stretches from coast to coast — passing over Oregon in the west and moving all the way across the country to South Carolina in the east.
This is a rare event; it’s the first time the path of totality will eclipse only over the contiguous United States.
The last time a total solar eclipse occurred in the Lower 48 was 1979.
The next time a total solar eclipse will traverse from coast to coast will be in 2045.