What might be the most viewed natural spectacle in American history will pass through Clark County a week from today on its cross-country sprint.
Taking part will require nothing more than going outside Aug. 21 to watch as morning seems to turn into an eerie evening.
It’s being called the Great American Eclipse. However, local residents won’t be able to see the event to its greatest effect without heading to Oregon, where the path of totality goes through Salem.
During the peak of the eclipse in Clark County, the moon will block 99 percent of the sun at 10:19 a.m. That one percentage point shy of 100 means we will not be stumbling around in the dark, according to astronomy educators.
The effect at 99 percent “is called eerie twilight,” said Jim Todd, director of space science education at Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
To preview the effect this week, just walk outside some evening, around 9 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Todd said. That’s about how dark it will get in the Vancouver area on Aug. 21.
“You won’t need a flashlight,” Todd noted.
But you will need eye protection. Local viewers should wear special eclipse glasses during the entire 2 hours and 32 minutes it will take the moon to cross the solar disc.
It starts at 9:06 a.m.
That process will begin here at 9:06 a.m., when the moon appears to touch the upper-right edge of the solar disc at 9:06 a.m. Moving from right to left across the sun, the moon will achieve maximum coverage — 99 percent of the sun — at 10:19 a.m. The smallest sliver of darkness will disappear at the lower left edge of the sun at 11:38 a.m.
While the path of totality from the Oregon coast to Charleston, S.C., is about 65 miles wide, the eclipse is a big deal nationwide.
“It’s the first path of totality through the continental U.S. since 1918,” said Randall Milstein, astronomy instructor at Oregon State University and astronomer in residence. “The majority of the U.S. will get at least 60 percent totality. It becomes the single-most-viewed natural phenomenon in the history of America. That’s kind of cool to say you are part of that.”
The next total solar eclipse visible in the contiguous U.S. will be on April 8, 2024; it will be visible from Texas to Maine.
During the Aug. 21 eclipse, mid-morning darkness may not be the only effect locally. We might get to enjoy some sunlight-generated (solar-powered, you might say) dazzle.
“At 99 percent, you’ll probably get a diamond ring and Baily’s beads,” Milstein said.
Baily’s beads are created when the sun is almost completely shielded from our view, and tiny beads of light flash through gaps — mountains and valleys — on the rim of the lunar disc.
The last visible bead glows brightly, like a diamond on a ring. If either effect is visible here, it will be seen twice — going into the eclipse and coming out of it.
“If there are sunspots when the eclipse is taking place, they will be visible as black dots with eclipse glasses on,” Milstein said.
Depending on the level of darkness and clarity of the sky, viewers in Clark County “might see Venus, to the right of the sun,” OMSI educator Todd said. “But only if you block the sun with your hand or a building or a tree. If we have a hazy day, you won’t be able to see it.”
Oregonians in the path of totality will be able to take off their eclipse glasses for a couple of minutes when the moon completely covers the sun; they will be able to see the sun’s corona, the outermost layer of the solar atmosphere that normally is invisible.
Keep those glasses on
Clark County viewers won’t have that opportunity.
“The important thing for Vancouver: You will never have totality, so never take off your glasses,” Milstein said.
A 99 percent eclipse means 1 percent of the sun will be shining down on us, and that is enough to cause eye damage.
• Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, normally closed on Mondays, will have a limited opening on Aug. 21 for eclipse watchers. The Fort Vancouver Visitor Center, 1501 E. Evergreen Blvd., will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., giving people access to drinking water and restrooms; eclipse viewing glasses will be for sale at the Friends of Fort Vancouver bookstore in the Visitor Center. Rangers will distribute information cards that can double as pinhole eclipse viewers.
• The Fort Vancouver National Trust will hold an eclipse event from 8 a.m. to noon. Participants will assemble in front of the Grant House, 1101 Officers Row, Vancouver.Register at
Tours@fortvan.org to reserve a spot. Free eclipse glasses will be provided to the first 100 people who register.
• The Vancouver Community Library, 901 C St., Vancouver, will hold a viewing event from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. It will include an opportunity to watch the eclipse from the library's fifth-floor exterior terrace. Free eclipse glasses will be available while supplies last.
• The Camas Public Library, 625 N.E. Fourth St., Camas, will hold a solar eclipse party from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Third Street will be blocked off, and people can bring lawn chairs so they can settle back and watch the eclipse. Free eclipse glasses will be distributed on the morning of the eclipse while supplies last.
• La Center Community Library, 1411 N.E. Lockwood Creek Road, La Center, will host an eclipse event at 9:30 a.m. Free eclipse glasses will be provided for the first 150 people.
• Woodland Community Library will hold an eclipse watch at 9:30 a.m. at Hoffman Plaza at Horseshoe Lake, 510 Goerig St., Woodland. Free eclipse glasses will be provided while supplies last.
• Mill Creek Pub, 1710 S.W. Ninth Ave., Battle Ground, will host an eclipse party from 9 a.m. to noon. Eclipse glasses will be provided to the first 50 participants.
“Once your eyes are fried, that’s it,” Milstein said.
Even with eclipse glasses, staring at the sun for two solid hours can damage your eyes. You can look away for a while and experience the eclipse indirectly. Pinhole viewers can project an image of the eclipse onto a flat surface.
And there are other ways to play around with that effect.
“If you stand under a tree, its leaves make a natural pinhole viewer,” Todd said. You can look at the ground below the tree to see images of tiny crescent suns.
You also can put your hands together at right angles, and make a waffle effect with your fingers, Todd added. That’s another way to cast projections of the eclipsed sun onto the ground or another flat surface.
There are some technical options, but — from Milstein’s perspective — why bother?
“Don’t take pictures. Unless you have high-end cameras, sturdy tripods and filters, it’s not worth your time.”
And tracking it via your smartphone?
“The key is to be there and actually witness it. You’re not witnessing it if you’re looking at the back of your phone,” the OSU astronomer said. “If you were on your phone, then you didn’t see it.”
