I already knew Wolfram|Alpha could do some cool astronomy calculations, like comparing the escape velocities of the Galilean moons. A recent W|A blog post also pointed out that you can calculate the next lunar eclipse. So I tried to see when the next solar eclipse would be for my area and it came up with a partial solar eclipse in 2014. Skip that and go to the next and it turns out there’s going to be a decent one in 2017. As a reminder, I sent an email to myself via FutureMe. It’ll be interesting to see if a) I’m still using gmail in 8 years, b) if FutureMe is still around sending emails, and c) if we can still see the sun. Man, I love W|A.
Total solar eclipse in 2017
Totality just misses Atlanta but a good share of SC will experience totality. Having seen 11 total solar eclipses, they are totally (pun intended) different from partial. The next US one after that runs from south Texas to Rochester NY in 2024. There is a ring (annular) eclipse in the southwest in May 2012, a great time, weather-wise. It doesn’t get dark with annular eclipses, but seeing a big black hole in the middle of the Sun is pretty cool.