It’s been in the news quite a bit already this year, and South Carolina is already gearing up for an influx of tourists on August 21st. It’s on that day the moon will completely block the sun and daytime will become a deep twilight. Many observers who have witnessed a total solar eclipse have described it as emotionally powerful and usually, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Even though much of the country will be able to witness portions of the eclipse, the total eclipse will only be visible on a narrow track stretching from Oregon to South Carolina. So as you can imagine, eclipse viewing events are in the works across the state and Clemson University will launch a website on April 3 so that residents interested in seeing the total eclipse can find Clemson’s eclipse viewing schedule of events, stories and updates about the eclipse, and instructions on how to safely view the eclipse by wearing solar glasses.
On August 21, 2017, millions of people across the United States will see a total eclipse of the Sun. South Carolina will be a significant destination for the eclipse because it will be the nearest spot within the path of totality for at least 100 million Americans in the Atlantic Seaboard and Florida.Cell phone service and smartphone Internet are expected to be unavailable inside the path of totality due to the large concentration of people. Cell phone companies will reinforce their network capacity for emergency responders. However, this will not increase capacity for commercial use. Visitors to South Carolina for the eclipse are encouraged to print paper versions of directions, lodging and restaurant reservations, and tickets to local eclipse events they plan to attend.Reputable Vendors of Solar Filters & Viewers, according to the American Astronomical Society and the National Science Foundation.
Clemson University's 2017 Solar Eclipse Website
NASA Image and Video Gallery