Home   Sun & Moon   Eclipses   August 21, 2017 — Great American Eclipse (Total Solar Eclipse)

August 21, 2017 — Great American Eclipse (Total Solar Eclipse)

The total phase of this total solar eclipse was visible from a narrow path spanning all across the USA from the West Coast to the East Coast (see map and local times below), weather permitting.

In the surrounding areas, which include all of mainland United States and Canada, the total eclipse 2017 was a partial solar eclipse.

Was this Total Solar Eclipse visible in Washington DC?

What the Eclipse Looked Like Near the Maximum Point

The animation shows what the eclipse approximately looked like near the maximum point. The curvature of the Moon's path is due to the Earth's rotation.

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Where the Eclipse Was Seen

Try our new interactive eclipse maps. Zoom in and search for accurate eclipse times and visualizations for any location.


Path of the Eclipse Shadow

Regions that saw, at least, a partial eclipse: North/West Europe, North in Asia, North/West Africa, North America, Much of South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic.

Expand for some cities where at least part of the total eclipse was visible
Expand for some cities where partial eclipse was visible

Was this eclipse visible in Washington DC?

Eclipse Shadow Path

Portion of Sun covered by the Moon (Eclipse obscuration)

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The dark areas symbolize night and twilight.

3D Eclipse Animation

Portion of Sun covered by the Moon (Eclipse obscuration)

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The dark areas symbolize night and twilight.

Note: The animation follows the eclipse shadow from west to east, its point of view moving around the planet at a greater speed than Earth's rotation. If you don't take into account this rapid change of perspective, it may look like Earth is spinning in the wrong direction.

Eclipse Start & End: Local Time for US States

The eclipse began over the Pacific Ocean at 15:46 UTC, which corresponds to 8:46 am Pacific Time. Yaquina Head Lighthouse in Newport, Oregon was the first location on continental US soil to see totality. The partial phase of the eclipse started here at 9:04 am local time, totality occurred at 10:15 am. Other places on the coast of Oregon did not have to wait much longer for the onset of the eclipse. For example, in Lincoln City, Oregon just west of Salem, the partial and total phases of the eclipse started less than 20 seconds later than at Yaquina Head.

From here, the Moon's central shadow moved inland. The following table shows when the Moon started to move in front of the Sun and the moment it completely covers the Sun, as seen from some locations along the central path of the eclipse. All times are local.

Location Partial Eclipse Begins Sun Completely Obscured
Salem, OR 09:05 am PDT 10:18 am PDT
Idaho Falls, ID 10:15 am MDT 11:33 am MDT
Casper, WY 10:22 am MDT 11:43 am MDT
Lincoln, NE 11:37 am CDT 1:03 pm CDT
Sabetha, KS 11:38 am CDT 1:05 pm CDT
Jefferson City, MO 11:46 am CDT 1:14 pm CDT
Carbondale, IL 11:52 am CDT 1:21 pm CDT
Hopkinsville, KY 11:56 am CDT 1:25 pm CDT
Nashville, TN 11:58 am CDT 1:28 pm CDT
Talulah Falls, GA 1:07 pm EDT 2:37 pm EDT
Columbia, SC 1:13 pm EDT 2:43 pm EDT
Charleston, SC 1:16 pm EDT 2:47 pm EDT

Please note that this list includes only a small selection of locations where the total eclipse was visible. You can look up more locations in our Eclipse Database or via the Eclipse Map.

Maximum Point: Best Location to View the Eclipse

The maximum point of the eclipse took place near Hopkinsville, Kentucky at 18:20 UTC, which is 1:20 pm local time. Here, totality lasted for 2 minutes and 40 seconds.

Did You Know? This was the First Total Solar Eclipse in USA Since 1979

This was the first total eclipse of the Sun visible from the contiguous United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) since February 26, 1979. The last time a total eclipse was visible from coast to coast was on June 8, 1918.

When the Eclipse Happened Worldwide — Timeline

The eclipse started at one location and ended at another. The times below are actual times (in UTC) when the eclipse occurred.

EventUTC TimeTime in Washington DC*
First location to see the partial eclipse beginAug 21 at 15:46:51Aug 21 at 11:46:51 am
First location to see the full eclipse beginAug 21 at 16:48:35Aug 21 at 12:48:35 pm
Maximum EclipseAug 21 at 18:25:36Aug 21 at 2:25:36 pm
Last location to see the full eclipse endAug 21 at 20:02:34Aug 21 at 4:02:34 pm
Last location to see the partial eclipse endAug 21 at 21:04:22Aug 21 at 5:04:22 pm

* These local times do not refer to a specific location but indicate the beginning, peak, and end of the eclipse on a global scale, each line referring to a different location. Please note that the local times for Washington DC are meant as a guideline in case you want to view the eclipse via a live webcam. They do not mean that the eclipse is necessarily visible there.

Eclipse calculations usually accurate to a few seconds.

Eclipses visible in Washington DC.

Next Total Solar Eclipse will be on Jul 2, 2019.

How Many People Can See This Eclipse?

Number of People Seeing...Number of People*Fraction of World Population
Any part of the eclipse1,010,000,00012.88%
At least 10% partial783,000,0009.91%
At least 20% partial713,000,0009.03%
At least 30% partial539,000,0006.83%
At least 40% partial468,000,0005.92%
At least 50% partial420,000,0005.33%
At least 60% partial377,000,0004.78%
At least 70% partial292,000,0003.70%
At least 80% partial171,000,0002.18%
At least 90% partial87,200,0001.10%
Totality or annularity12,600,0000.16%

* The number of people refers to the resident population (as a round number) in areas where the eclipse is visible. timeanddate has calculated these numbers using raw population data provided by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University. The raw data is based on population estimates from the year 2000 to 2020.

An Eclipse Never Comes Alone!

A solar eclipse always occurs about two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse.

Usually, there are two eclipses in a row, but other times, there are three during the same eclipse season.

All eclipses 1900 — 2199

This is the second eclipse this season.

First eclipse this season: August 7, 2017 — Partial Lunar Eclipse