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Partial eclipse view from Charles City ‘interesting’

• People in Charles City will be able to view a partial solar eclipse beginning shortly before noon on Monday, Aug. 21. The event will begin at 11:44 a.m. when the moon just begins to block the view of the sun in the sky. The eclipse will end in Charles City at 2:33 p.m., when the moon completely passes beyond the sun. The maximum coverage will occur at 1:09 p.m., when 88.9 percent of the sun’s disk will be blocked by the moon. • The forecast, unfortunately, for Monday midday is for clouds with thunderstorms possible. If the sky is overcast and already dark because of storms there may be little noticeable impact from the partial eclipse. Press graphic by Bob Steenson/Information from www.precisioneclipse.com
• People in Charles City will be able to view a partial solar eclipse beginning shortly before noon on Monday, Aug. 21. The event will begin at 11:44 a.m. when the moon just begins to block the view of the sun in the sky. The eclipse will end in Charles City at 2:33 p.m., when the moon completely passes beyond the sun. The maximum coverage will occur at 1:09 p.m., when 88.9 percent of the sun’s disk will be blocked by the moon.
• The forecast, unfortunately, for Monday midday is for clouds with thunderstorms possible. If the sky is overcast and already dark because of storms there may be little noticeable impact from the partial eclipse.
Press graphic by Bob Steenson/Information from www.precisioneclipse.com

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By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com 

People in the Charles City area around midday Monday, Aug. 21, will be able to witness a partial view of the natural phenomenon that has the whole country buzzing — if the weather cooperates.

We’re about 225 miles too far northeast to witness the total solar eclipse that will move in an arc from Oregon to South Carolina Monday.

Professor of Astrophysical Sciences Edwin Turner, writing in Scientific American, says a partial eclipse is “interesting,” but “a total eclipse is mind-blowing” and is “perhaps the most spectacular natural phenomenon you’ll ever see.”

The “path of totality” where the moon will completely block the sun from view will touch just the barest tip of southwest Iowa. That’s about 300 miles from Charles City by the fastest driving route, according to google.maps.

In this area the moon will cover all but a sliver of the sun.

NASA.com says the moon will cover 88.9 percent of the sun’s disk visible from Charles City. That sounds like a lot, but the sun is so bright that even that sliver will be enough to provide quite a bit of light.

Scientific American puts it this way: The difference between a total eclipse and a 99 percent partial eclipse is about 10,000 times as much light.

And whether or not we are able to see anything will depend a great deal on the weather. The forecast for Monday midday is for clouds and possible thunderstorms.

If the sky is completely overcast and already somewhat dark because of storms, we may not be able to tell that anything is happening at all — other than through news and social media coverage of the event.

 

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