People in Oklahoma can watch eclipse to the greater extent in August

The solar eclipse stretches all across the U.S. on Aug 21. From the coast of Oregon through Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Far northeast Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and finally leaving the U.S. mainland in South Carolina.

Transferring digital information through Optical lens

The last time we had one that covered this much of the continental U.S. was in 1918. That one was nice for Oklahomans as the path of totality ran halfway between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The eclipse in northwest Oklahoma City starts at 11:36:45 with maximum eclipse, 84.63 percent coverage, occurring at 1:05:17, ending at 2:34:25.

Further, at maximum in Oklahoma City, 15.37 percent of the sun"s disk will remain unobscured by the new moon. Because 15 percent means you cannot look directly at it without doing significant damage to your eyes, up to and including total blindness.

August highlights

The night of Aug. 12 and 13, the Perseid meteor shower, our most reliable annual shower, graces the night sky. Unfortunately a bright third-quarter moon wipes all but the very brightest.

In addtion, one App provides local circumstances at eclipsecountdown.com. It"s very handy to download to your smartphone at whatever app store applies for your phone.  If you decide to view it from your own backyard, or go north to the centerline, there are numerous resources available. NASA provides an interactive map of the eclipse at eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEsearch/SEsearchmap.php?Ecl=20170821.

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Moreover, Get eclipse start and end times, time of maximum for the location. If you plan on traveling to some location along the path of totality, be warned.However, experts predict as many as 30 million people will travel to locations along the eclipse path. The path across the far southeast corner of Oklahoma, only a few miles southeast of Idabel.