In Des Moines, a nice partial eclipse. Main event: August, 2017!

To the right is an indication of what we saw here in Des Moines last night when a stretch of the Western United States was watching their annular eclipse.

We come close to a total eclipse here in August of 2017, though it looks like I may have to do what I did for the 1994 annular and journey southward a way to see totality. I've been looking forward to it all my life, and I can hardly wait.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures from the part of the country where yesterday's eclipse reached annularity. And here are some more.


To the left is the path totality will take for the August, 2017 eclipse. Looks like southern Iowa or northern Missouri might be my best shot. Or I might end up in southern Illinois again, from where I saw the annular eclipse of 1994!

They say that even an annular can't compare to the spectacle of a total eclipse, the only kind in which the solar corona (the plasma "atmosphere" of the sun) is visible. It's one of the most beautiful sights in nature (provided that one uses Mylar "eclipse glasses" to view it, so that it isn't one's last sight before going blind from a macular burn!), and one I've always believed everybody should have the chance to see one in his or her life.