Solar eclipse 2017: When, where, and how to watch the eclipse

Thousands of people are about to be treated to the show of the century - all they have to do is look up.

On August 21, 2017, people in several parts of the US will have the chance to view the total solar eclipse, a phenomenon that occurs when the moon crosses between the Earth and the sun and temporarily block the sun.

This is the first time first time in 99 years that a solar eclipse has crossed the country from coast to coast.

How to watch it

Most Americans will be able to catch a glimpse of the event - weather permitting - but those lucky enough to be in its 2,800-mile-long, 70-mile-wide path (also known as the path of totality) will see the moon completely choke out the sun's golden glare.

Outdoors

If you plan to watch the event outdoors, please do so safely.

We recommend a pinhole viewer, especially if you don't have free eclipse glasses with special solar filters designed to protect your eyes from the powerful solar rays.

Online

If you don't live in one of the 14 states lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the eclipse live, don't worry: there are plenty of online resources to choose from to sneak a peek.

Our recommendation: Rely on NASA (whose live feeds we've embedded below from providers including YouTube, Ustream, and Facebook Live). They'll have two live feeds of the solar eclipse via NASA TV and NASA EDGE, and they'll be streamed across half a dozen popular streaming-video services.

YouTube

When to watch it

NASA's first feed goes live at 8:45 a.m. PDT/11:45 a.m. EDT, about an hour before the moon's darkest shadow kisses Oregon.

From there the shadow will move southeast quickly at speeds approaching 1,440 mph to 2,370 mph. After 93 minutes, the event will finish up in South Carolina. This map shows where and when the eclipse will cast its shadow across the US:

What you'll see

If you're in the path of totality, the sky will go dark for a few minutes in the afternoon. With the sun's rays and its warmth temporarily blocked, it'll also get a bit chilly.

The best places in the US to catch it will be near Salem, Oregon; Nashville, Tennessee; Kansas City, Missouri; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina.

As far as what it'll look like, no one knows exactly what to expect. Nevertheless, a scientific research company called Predictive Science, Inc. has made it its mission to guess. Using what we know about the sun and its movement plus mathematical models and the help of several supercomputers, the company has created some very cool illustrations (like the one below) to predict what we will see. Here's our favorite image:

Why you should see it

Aside from being the first to slice across the US in 99 years, Monday's solar eclipse will illustrate a rare and unusual scientific phenomenon.

The reason the Earth experiences solar eclipses is because the moon occasionally covers the sun in its path across the sky. During a solar eclipse, two events occur simultaneously. First, the moon, which is in its "new moon" phase, crosses the exact plane of the Earth's orbit. Second, the moon is at its closest point to Earth in its orbit.

The result? The Earth, sun, and moon align. And from where we stand, the moon appears roughly the same size as the sun and blots it out.

Still, Monday's event is far from the only one to happen in recent history. In the past three decades, five solar eclipses haven taken place in the US. The last one, in 2012, was only an annular - as opposed to a total - eclipse (when the edge of the sun remains visible as a bright ring around the moon). The planet has experienced 33 of them since 2000.

NOW WATCH: Here's the best way to watch the solar eclipse if you don't have special glasses