Today’s total solar eclipse is set to dazzle U.S. skywatchers, but it hasn’t been that long since the nation was last captivated by another total solar eclipse. In 2017, eclipse-chasers across the country enjoyed the show when darkness fell for a few minutes in cities in the path of totality.
The 2017 eclipse was the first visible in U.S. skies in nearly four decades. Its path of totality spanned from Salem, Oregon, to Charleston, South Carolina, making it the first eclipse in 99 years visible across the country.
The last solar eclipse visible in the U.S. occurred on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017. Its path of totality started on the West Coast, entering the U.S. near Lincoln City, Oregon, at 9:05 a.m. local time, reaching totality there at 10:16 a.m. local time. The moon’s shadow swept across all U.S. states, traveling at more than 1,200 miles per hour, as watchers in 14 states got to experience totality. The darkness of totality hit watchers in Charleston, South Carolina, at 2:48 p.m. local time, and the last of the lunar shadow left the U.S. at 4:09 p.m. ET.
During the 2017 eclipse, the path of the moon’s umbral shadow and the fraction of the sun’s area covered by the moon outside the path of totality was documented in a map. This historic event brought people together to witness a celestial spectacle.
