The total solar eclipse is just a month away: what you need to know

We are a month away from the total solar eclipse stretching from Mexico to Canada. Here in central North Carolina we’ll see a partial solar eclipse. To really experience the eclipse, you'll want to get into the path of totality.

As tempting as it is to describe the difference in experiencing as a total and a partial eclipse as "night and day", that really doesn't begin to describe it.

As the Moon slides in front of the Sun, all direct sunlight disappears from the sky leaving only the comparatively faint white glow of the corona, the Sun's outer atmosphere. The air temperature drops 5-10 degrees, and things get quiet but not for long. Animals react to the odd, sudden loss of sunlight and so do people. Some ooh and ahh, a lot cheer.

Where you are within the path impacts your experience as well. The closer you are to the center, the longer the period of totality you'll experience. It makes sense when you think about it. What is happening is the elongated circular shadow of the Moon is moving of your stationary position, cutting a line through that circle.  That line is longest nearest the middle of the circle.

If you were to drive west on I-40 to meet up with the path in Arkansas, you'll see over 4 minutes of totality near the small town of Atkins, just 4 miles west of the center line. Little Rock offers more hotel options, but its position 1/4 of the way into the path gives you have the experience at just over 2 minutes of totality.

For comparison, the tiny town of Mulberry, Arkansas, at the very edge of the path offers just a few seconds of totality as the edge of the circle passes over. Just a mile or two in any direction near the edge of the path can mean the difference between a 2017-ike minute of totality, a few seconds, and no totality at all.

If your are planning a road trip, make reservations if you haven't already. Hotels are difficult to find in the path and are running 4-6 times the normal rates where you can find them. Once you get 25-30 miles beyond the path, rates start to normalize a bit.

Traffic will be a challenge, especially after totality when most visitors head to their cars and clog the roads. Plan to get wherever you are going early and plan to stay until well after totality is over.  You'll also be glad you started the day with a full gas tank if you get stuck in a traffic in communities with limited services available.

Everyone outside that path of totality will experience a partial solar eclipse, Here in central North Carolina 75%-80% of the Sun will be covered by Moon. The closer you are to that path, the more of the Sun will be eclipsed (Murphy will see an 86% eclipse). The further away, the less of the Sun will be covered (Manteo will see 74%, Southport 71%).

Traveling to an area that will see a slightly higher percentage of partial eclipse isn't really worth it. Traveling into the path of totality, absolutely is (see above),

Whether you're in the path or not, you're going to need eye protection to view the partial eclipse. You may already have what you need, tucked in a book or maybe in the junk drawer in your kitchen since 2017.

If you need to purchase glasses, do it soon. Demand significantly increased the closer we got to August 21, 2017 and there was also the problem of "fake glasses".

Counterfeit eclipse glasses that appeared to provide protection but failed to block invisible, but the harmful UV and IR that on either side of the visible part of the spectrum,. While the ISO 12312-2:2015 certification is an indicator that the manufacturer at least knows of the standard safe glasses are to be made to, anyone can print anything and they did back in 2017.

There are other ways to experience the partial eclipse. My favorite is creating a pinhole projector . It works remarkably well and requires only a cereal or similar cardboard box, tape, scissors, a bit of white paper, and some alluminum foil. You'll make a very small hole with a straight pin in the aluminum foil to let the light in.