What could be finer than a solar eclipse by the SC sea?

I picked up a swell new T-shirt at the McClellanville Art Museum the other day.

It’s a shirt that, on the back, shows the path of the Aug. 21 solar eclipse, the one in which McClellanville will be one of the last places in the United States to view a total block out of the sun.

The 70-mile-wide arc of total eclipse in the continental United States begins in Oregon and touches 12 states before sweeping down Interstate 26 and heading out to sea via South Carolina.

It is the first solar eclipse visible in the United States since 1979, though that one clipped only a few Northern states on a day of poor visibility.

Noted astronomer Bob Berman says you have to go back 99 years for the last solar eclipse that swept all the way across the continental United States from coast to coast.

This one is being called The Great American Eclipse, and even those on the fringe of the 70-mile path will see a total blackout, at least for a few seconds.

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McClellanville, where I live, is in the center of that path and should witness a blackout of 2 minutes, 39 seconds.

Much of South Carolina will see a partial eclipse, which is nice, but not the same

As one astronomer said, “Likening a partial eclipse to a total eclipse is like comparing almost dying to dying.”

Berman, writing in Astronomy magazine, said there’s simply no comparison to a total solar eclipse.

“Totality,” he said, “feels like nothing else in life. Travel to see it, even if you end up observing from a highway shoulder.”

(But please, the S.C. Highway Patrol urges, don’t try that. Pull into a parking lot somewhere.)

According to The Week magazine, communities across the country are planning viewing parties and other eclipse-related events for Aug. 21. Hotels in many places are already sold out.

Columbia, also in the center of the arc, will experience the longest total eclipse of any large East Coast city — although I should note that tiny McClellanville is scheduled to go dark for nine seconds longer than the capital city. Events being planned in Columbia for Aug. 21 include a Lowcountry boil and a “Star Wars Musiclipse” concert by the South Carolina Philharmonic.

All of South Carolina is expecting a sudden influx of cars on that date, and I expect that will be no different for McClellanville.

Astronomers from the College of Charleston are planning to set up at Sewee Visitor & Environmental Education Center in Awendaw. They’ll be there not only to record the total eclipse but also to witness the impact on the center’s wolves and other wildlife when their world goes completely dark at approximately 2:49 in the afternoon. Ditto the zookeepers at Columbia’s Riverbanks Zoo.

Berman gave an idea of what will happen: During those minutes of total or near total blackout, look around you, he said.

“Cars, trees, buildings — the familiar now seems alien. Colors become saturated. Contrast is heightened. The air gets noticeably cooler. Confused by the sudden twilight, birds stop singing and crickets start chirping.”

Don’t, he adds, squander a single moment.

This story was originally published July 30, 2017 at 6:30 PM with the headline "What could be finer than a solar eclipse by the SC sea?."