The Great American Eclipse: You Have Less Than Two Years to Plan

I am a nerd. Allow me to clarify; I’m not a “Math Nerd” or a “Harry Potter Nerd.” I am a “Nature Nerd.” I don’t really care about solving for “x”, and I don’t care who is from Gryffindor; but I really do care if that chickadee on the feeder is a Boreal or a Black-Capped. That matters—at least to me it does. See? Nature Nerd.

So I was really excited when I found out that an eclipse is coming. On August 21^st, 2017 (yes, two years from now) a total solar eclipse will take place over the United States. In other words: the moon will pass between earth and the sun so that the sun will literally be blotted out. I’m so excited that I’ve already got plans to be on a mountaintop for even better viewing. (More on “why” in a bit, until then you can just roll your eyes along with my wife.)

Back to the eclipse…For more than two minutes these three bodies will fly through space in this “perfect” alignment: the sun, stationary (in a relative sense) some 93 million miles away, Earth hurtling around the sun at over 1,000mph, while the moon runs her laps around the earth some 400,000 miles away at over 2,200mph herself. (Lots of cool info here: http://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/eclipse-2017/ )

Think of the ballet dance of these galactic giants! The sun is 400 times larger than the moon but the moon is 400 times closer to earth—the result of those “400s” is that the moon will perfectly cover the sun, allowing us to see the sun’s corona (think “flames” though its actually plasma). With the disc/light of the sun blocked out we can peer into the space behind the sun. (Think of looking at a bright light—you can’t see anything behind it. Now hold out your hand and block that light. See what you were missing?). Seconds before the eclipse reaches totality (sun completely covered) you might actually see rays of sunlight shining behind moon mountains and through moon valleys! (We’ve dubbed them “Bailey’s Beads” and this is how man knew they were there before Galileo gave us the telescope.)
Eclipses are not all that rare. 68 total eclipses will occur during this century and hundreds of partials will take place. But as they can only be seen in certain areas and only with clear skies, the coming summer eclipse over the United States will be a rare enough treat for us in rainy Washington. (OK, technically, Washington will see about 97, not 100% total. For totality you have to drive down to Oregon or track its path from the website linked above.)

Look at the picture at the beginning of this little ramble. I took it this summer, just before sunset, from Mount Ellinore, in the Olympic Mountain Range. The triangular shadow is from Ellinore herself. Standing six thousand feet above your surroundings lets you see the shade from a whole different perspective. Down there in the triangle shadow, you’d see a mountain blocking the light of the sun (i.e. the sun has set behind the mountain). From up here you see the sun, the light, the mountain, and the shadow.

That unique shadow perspective is why I’ve already got my 2017 “Eclipse Climb” on my calendar…(this is so cool you might just become a Nature Nerd yourself!)… When the moon moves in front of the sun, a circle of shadow 87 miles across will be cast onto the earth. If you can get high enough above your surroundings you will actually be able to see this shadow approaching from the west (or if you’re like me and your perch has a view to the east, you’ll be able to watch it receding in that direction.) But don’t blink! The shadow will be racing west-to-east at more than 3,000mph! Like those down below, you’ll be able to see the moon block the sun; but up above you’ll also be able to see the moon’s shadow coming and going across the landscape! That, in my opinion, will be worth leaving home by 5am to hit the trail by 7. If you want to come along, I’d be happy for the company.
I’m a Nature Nerd but I’m not a genius. So how do I know all this, how we know the exact minute the total eclipse will happen, exactly where in the country you’ll be able to see it, when and where that moon-shadow will race ashore from west to east? It’s because that’s not random chaos up there. Those heavenly bodies are not flying through space as the haphazard remnants of a cataclysmic explosion. They move with such precision that we can foretell the exact location and time of events that are still years away.
One may have massive options with fast Kamagra delivery viagra overnight delivery UK. Also people today know the power of nature regarding eternal youth and health, especially people living in harmony with nature in natural environments such as the Amazon. levitra price If sildenafil tablet you feel that the current dose is not sufficient to provide enough erection to the penis. By relaxing the muscles vasodilation of blood vessels is achieved leading to improved blood flow into the penis. midwayfire.com levitra sale
Get it? The reason I can look at my watch at 9:52:57am and say “two hours, seven minutes, and three seconds from now both big and little hands will be pointing straight up” is because my watch was designed and made with that kind of reliable precision.

The sun, moon, and stars are the same—only more so. They were called into existence by the word of God to rule the day and night, to give light on the earth, and to serve for signs and seasons. That’s why, in my nerdy way, this is so cool to me; it’s God’s creation doing what He created it to do. (I know my watch or iPhone wouldn’t still be reliable after thousands of years.)

Check out these maps I found. Sir Edmund Halley prepared the black-and-white map 300 years ago, in 1715. Compare it to the color/modern reconstruction of the path of that same eclipse. Isn’t it incredible how accurate Halley was? Remember, he had no satellite views or computers to help him. The only way to be that accurate is if the thing you’re predicting is reliably accurate as well. In my experience, the only way for inanimate flying objects to be reliable and accurate is if Someone made them to be.

In the end I’m a Nature Nerd because I am a child of God. The same God who put our planet, our moon, and our sun in their place has promised me forgiveness. This might blow your mind: God who is wise enough to make all this work, has actually forgotten something. The Bible says He does not remember my sins.

There are some pretty terrible things there to forget. I don’t know how He could really do it. I don’t know that anymore than I know would how to go about lining up a star, a moon, and a planet so that the second covers the first while the third gets a spectacular show. The eclipse proves that He knows how, just as the empty tomb proves that His words concerning and my sins and my eternity are true as well.

Save the date: August 21^st, 2017 with totality at 10:15am Pacific Daylight Time. Since the heavens declare the glory of God, let the glory declared be more than His astronomical acumen. Let it His mercy, His love, His eternal concern for you. Let it be Jesus.