SOLAR ECLIPSE
8A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2017
Total solar eclipse
first in 99 years to
sweep width of US
By MARCIA DUNN
Associated Press
AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus
Joe Krenowicz, executive director of the Madras-Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce, gestures toward Mount Jef-
ferson as the sun rises over Madras. The first place to experience total darkness as the moon passes between the sun
and the Earth will be in Oregon, and Madras, in the central part of the state, is expected to be a prime viewing location.
Up to 1 million people are expected in Oregon for the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in 99 years and up to 100,000
could show up in Madras and surrounding Jefferson County. Officials are worried about the ability of the rural area to
host so many visitors and are concerned about the danger of wildfire from so many people camping on public lands.
Eclipse: ‘You’ve got to be
prepared or you won’t enjoy it’
Continued from Page 1A
Chasers descend
Up to 1 million eclipse
chasers will descend on Ore-
gon for the celestial event,
and officials are bracing for
as many as 100,000 of them
in and around Madras.
In this vast expanse of
ranches and farms, rural, two-
lane roads could mean traf-
fic jams of cosmic propor-
tions. Every hotel in Madras
is booked, some residents are
renting their homes for $3,000
a night, and campers are
expected to flood the national
forests and grasslands during
peak wildfire season.
The state’s emergency
coordination center will gear
up, and first responders will
prepare to respond to any
trouble as they would for an
earthquake or other natural
disaster. Cell towers could
be overwhelmed, traffic will
be gridlocked, and police and
fire stretched to the max man-
aging the crowds.
“Bring extra water, bring
food. You need to be pre-
pared to be able to survive on
your own for 24 to 48 to 72
hours, just like you would in
any sort of emergency,” said
Dave Thompson, spokesman
for the Oregon Department of
Transportation. “This is pretty
much a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity, and it’s really
worth seeing. But you’ve got
to be prepared or you won’t
enjoy it.”
What’s a
total solar eclipse?
AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus
Christina Carpenter and her 11-year-old son, Evan, hold some of their chickens on the
family’s organic farm earlier this month, as Carpenter’s husband, Grant Putnam, looks
on. Carpenter is renting out camping spaces on the family’s farm for nearly $1,000 and
up during the four days leading up to the eclipse and will provide lives music, guest
lectures, star-gazing and meals.
Path of totality
When the moon passes
between the sun and the
Earth, the path of totality —
meaning total darkness —
from the moon’s shadow will
begin on Oregon’s Coast, then
cross the north-central part of
the state from west to east.
But as the hype builds,
authorities are increasingly
worried that people who
planned to watch from the
notoriously foggy coast could
move east at the last minute if
the forecast sours. And Ore-
gonians who live outside the
path of totality could decide
to drive to one of the prime
viewing spots at the spur of
the moment, creating havoc
on the roads, said Cory Gro-
gan, spokesman for the Ore-
gon Office of Emergency
Management.
In addition, many tourists
will be camping in hot, tin-
der-dry conditions, or even
sleeping in their cars. First
responders have been plan-
ning for months for a worst-
case scenario: evacuating
tens of thousands of peo-
ple while trying to get fire
engines through gridlocked
roads. Cellular towers also
may be crippled by the vol-
ume of people texting, call-
ing and posting photos, mak-
ing it difficult for fire crews to
communicate.
Federal and local officials
will stage engines and other
resources at key locations,
and firefighters from other
agencies and private compa-
nies will send extra crews.
But it’s impossible to plan for
everything, and tourists frus-
trated with traffic may use
forest access roads as short-
CAPE CANAVERAL,
Fla. — This August, the
U.S. will experience its first
coast-to-coast total solar
eclipse in 99 years.
Total solar eclipses
occur every year or two or
three, often in the middle
of nowhere like the South
Pacific or Antarctic. What
makes this one so special
— at least for Americans —
is that it will cut diagonally
across the entire United
States.
The path of totality on
Aug. 21 — where day briefly
becomes night — will pass
over Oregon, continuing
through the heartland all the
way to Charleston, South
Carolina. Those on the
outskirts — all the way
into
Canada,
Central
America and even the upper
part of South America —
will be treated to a partial
eclipse.
The last time a total solar
eclipse swept the whole
width of the U.S. was in
1918.
No tickets are required
for this Monday matinee,
just special eclipse glasses
so you don’t ruin your
eyes.
Here are some eclipse
tidbits as you get ready to
feast your protected eyes on
perhaps the greatest of all
cosmic spectacles.
AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus
A poster advertising the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse hangs
in the window of a McDonald’s restaurant in Madras.
AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus
A rough draft of a special shortened menu for the Aug. 21
total solar eclipse is seen resting on a table at the Black
Bear Diner in Madras.
cuts, further raising fire risk,
said Kent Koeller, a recre-
ation planner with U.S. Forest
Service outside Madras.
“Just driving off-road —
having that contact with a
hot muffler or a catalytic con-
verter — could start an igni-
tion,” he said. “And in these
fine fuels, it could spread very
quickly.”
Planning ahead
Lysa Vattimo was hired
two years ago to coordi-
nate the town’s planning
efforts with more than 50
local, state and federal agen-
cies. She spends her days try-
ing to think of every possible
consequence of having tens
of thousands of people in a
town of just 6,500 — and her
nights worrying she missed
something.
The town and surrounding
campsites have rented nearly
700 portable toilets, includ-
ing some from as far as Idaho,
to meet demand. Sanitation
trucks will run almost around
the clock, transporting trash
to 50-yard-long (46-meter-
long) dumpsters before it rots
in triple-digit temperatures.
Gas stations are filling
their underground tanks in
advance, and businesses are
being told to use cash only,
to avoid bringing down the
wireless network. Banks are
stocking their ATMs, local
hospitals have canceled vaca-
tions, and pregnant women
close to their due dates are
being told to leave to avoid
getting stuck.
“What we’ve asked our
residents to do is get prepared
ahead of time. About a week
out, fuel up on propane, gas,
whatever fuels they need, get
their prescriptions, go to the
doctor, do what you need to
do,” she said. “And then stay
home.”
In Madras, hotels were
booked years ago, and spots
at 25 campgrounds in and
around the town are going
fast. Farmers are renting out
their land for pop-up camp-
grounds, and thousands of
parking spaces for day trip-
pers are getting snapped up.
The Black Bear Diner, one
of the town’s most popular
restaurants, expects to serve
1,000 people a day during
the week leading up to the
eclipse. Owner Joe Davis has
ordered five weeks of food for
one week of business and will
have an abbreviated menu of
10 items to speed service.
“The Black Bear Diner
has been here in Madras 18
years, and I’m sure this will
be by far the busiest week —
and probably double the busi-
est week — that we’ve seen,”
he said.
But amid all the hubbub
and anxiety, most residents
have kept sight of the wonder.
Darlene Hoffman is one
of the few here who watched
the last total solar eclipse to
touch Madras 38 years ago.
Hoffman, 80, recalls how the
birds stopped singing and the
horses prepared to sleep as the
sky gradually darkened and a
hush fell over the land.
“It was really something to
see. It really was,” she said.
“That amazed me more than
anything.”
When the moon passes
between Earth and the sun,
and scores a bull’s eye by
completely blotting out the
sunlight, that’s a total solar
eclipse. The moon casts a
shadow on our planet. Dead
center is where sky gazers
get the full treatment. In this
case, the total eclipse will
last up to 2 minutes and 40
seconds in places. A par-
tial eclipse will be visible
along the periphery. Clouds
could always spoil the view,
though, so be ready to split
for somewhere with clear
skies, if necessary.
What’s the path
on Aug. 21?
The path of totality —
meaning total darkness —
will begin near Lincoln
City, Oregon, as the lunar
shadow makes its way into
the U.S. This path will be
60 miles to 70 miles wide;
the closer to the center, the
longer the totality. Total-
ity will cross from Ore-
gon into Idaho, Wyoming,
Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri,
Illinois, Kentucky, Tennes-
see, Georgia, North Caro-
lina and, finally, South Car-
olina. (It will also pass over
tiny slivers of Montana and
Iowa.) The eclipse will last
longest near Carbondale,
AP Photo/Alex Sanz
A sign showcasing a up-
coming solar eclipse in
Hopkinsville, Ky. There is
heightened anticipation
in the eclipses path, in-
cluding in the small, rural
towns of southwestern
Kentucky.
Illinois: approximately two
minutes and 40 seconds.
The biggest cities in the path
include Nashville; Colum-
bia and Charleston, South
Carolina; Salem, Oregon;
Casper, Wyoming; and just
barely within, Kansas City,
Missouri.
Last total solar
eclipses in U.S.?
Hawaii experienced a
total solar eclipse in 1991.
But the U.S. mainland hasn’t
seen a total solar eclipse
since 1979, when it swooped
across Oregon, Washington
state, Idaho, Montana and
North Dakota, then into Can-
ada. Before that, in 1970, a
total solar eclipse skirted the
Atlantic coastline from Flor-
ida to Virginia. Totality — or
total darkness — exceeded
three minutes in 1970, lon-
ger than the one coming up.
The country’s last total solar
eclipse stretching from coast
to coast, on June 8, 1918,
came in over Oregon and
Washington, and made a
beeline for Florida.
When’s the next one?
If you miss the Aug. 21
eclipse — or get bitten by
the eclipse bug — you’ll
have to wait seven years to
see another one in the con-
tinental U.S. The very next
total solar eclipse will be
in 2019, but you’ll have to
be below the equator for a
glimpse. We’re talking the
South Pacific, and Chile and
Argentina. It’s pretty much
the same in 2020. For the
U.S., the next total solar
eclipse will occur on April
8, 2024. The line of total-
ity will cross from Texas, up
through the Midwest, almost
directly over Indianapo-
lis, Cleveland and Buffalo,
New York, up over New
England and out over Maine
and New Brunswick, Can-
ada. Carbondale, Illinois,
will be in the crosshairs once
again.
Alaska Air offers charter
flight for solar eclipse event
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Alaska
Airlines said Monday it
will charter a flight over
the Pacific Ocean this Aug.
21 so select passengers can
view the astronomical event
from the sky.
The flight will take off
at 7:30 a.m. Pacific from
Portland and is by invi-
tation-only for about 50
astronomers and serious
eclipse chasers. The airline
is also holding an online
contest starting July 21 for
the general public with a
prize of two seats on the
flight.
The total solar eclipse is
the first coast-to-coast total
solar eclipse to hit the conti-
nental U.S. in 99 years.
A total eclipse occurs
when the moon passes
between the sun and the
Earth, blocking the sun’s
light.
The path of totality — the
area of complete darkness
where the moon’s shadow
completely obscures the sun
— begins in the U.S. on the
Oregon coast before travel-
ing east across the U.S.
The idea behind the
flight began last year, when
a group of avid eclipse
chasers booked tickets on
an
Anchorage-to-Hono-
lulu flight during an eclipse
that could be seen over the
Pacific Ocean. They suc-
cessfully lobbied Alaska
Airlines to adjust the flight
path so they could see the
event from the air, said
Halley Knigge, an airline
spokeswoman.
The carrier is now reach-
ing out to those same peo-
ple for this flight, as well as
other astronomers, she said.
The trip in the Boeing
737 will take between four
and five hours and is limited
to about 50 people to make
sure everyone gets a good
view, Knigge said.