On Aug. 21, 2017, skies darkened from Oregon to South Carolina in the first total solar eclipse visible from coast to coast across the United States in 99 years. Check out a few of these interesting facts about this once-in-a-lifetime event:
- Snake-like figures can emerge in the shadows. Mysterious shadowy figures that wriggle like snakes have been known to appear on surfaces near the ground seconds before and after a total solar eclipse.
- You cannot race the 2017 total solar eclipse. Someone would need to travel at roughly 2,400 mph to chase the moon’s shadow, according to Bill Kramer, a well-known expert in the eclipse chasing community.
- Earth is the only place in the solar system where a moon can completely cover the sun. The sun is 4oo times larger than the moon and 400 times further from the Earth, which makes the two appear to be the same size as the eclipse takes place.
