YOU ARE INVITED TO SHARE THE GREAT AMERICAN ECLIPSE OF THE SUN WITH YOUR STUDIO FRIENDS! 

 WHEN: Monday, August 21, 2017 11 am-2:30 pm Maximum Partiality (approximately 98%) at 1:06 pm 

WHERE: The Studio, 9555 Nall, Overland Park, KS We will mark off parking space and sidewalk in front of the Studio for seating. First come, first served. 

SERVING: Sun and moon themed treats. 

SELLING: Safe Solar Eclipse Glasses- $2 each.* Solar Eclipse Commemorative Knitted Hat Pattern. Solar Eclipse Commemorative Hand Painted Needlepoint Ornament canvas. 

WHAT TO BRING: Your own chair, sun screen and, of course, your projects. *There has been a lot in the media about the safety of solar glasses. Please know that these glasses are sourced from the Astronomical League, a non-profit organization who supports over 270 local astronomy clubs across America and meets the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard for such products. Even if you can’t join us on Monday, August 21, you are welcome to buy your viewing glasses from us. 

FUN FACTS ABOUT THE 2017 GREAT AMERICAN SOLAR ECLIPSE… 

• Solar eclipses happen nearly every 18 months or so around the world, often over oceans as Earth is covered by 71% water. But on a human time scale, total solar eclipses seem rare and random. Any particular spot on earth will see one, on average, every 375 years. 

• This eclipse starts out in the Pacific Ocean and crosses into the contiguous United States at Oregon at 9:05 am, PDT. The line of totality (meaning that the sun is totally eclipsed by the moon) sweeps across the United States in a southeasterly direction, moving out into the Atlantic near Charleston, SC at 4:09 pm, EDT. Totality lasts only about 1-3 minutes depending on your viewing site; as the sun, moon and earth all keep on moving. Depending on distance people are from that line of totality will determine how much of a partial eclipse they will see. Here, the southern-most edge of the totality line runs through downtown Kansas City. Here at the Studio in Overland Park, we will be observing a partial eclipse with the sun ALMOST blocked by the moon. 

• The good news is that everyone in the United States will see the sun from 50-100% eclipsed! 

• It’s a BIG DEAL that the line of this eclipse crosses only the United States. Astronomers have calculated that the last time an eclipse followed such a path was in the year 436. The next time a total solar eclipse follows this same path will be in 2319. 

• Figuring out the exact path a solar eclipse is not as exact a science as you would think. Scientists have measured the size of the moon, as well as the distances from Earth to the moon and the sun and from the moon to the sun. But the sun itself is a big, roiling ball of burning gases—making it more difficult to measure. Total eclipses provide opportunities to learn more about the sun. 

• Just like knitting, it is all about the math. The perfect sun-moon-Earth alignment that results in a total solar eclipse is an extraordinary cosmic coincidence! The sun is 400 times larger than the moon and the moon is only able to “cover” the sun because the moon is 400 times closer to the Earth. In all of the hundreds of billions star systems in our Milky Way galaxy, few, if any, are likely to produce total solar eclipses like here on Earth. It is a coincidence not only of spatial relations but also time and motion. 

Go to this website to see a short video of what you will be able to see from the Studio parking lot: https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/overland-park. You can also use this site to look at locations all across the United States, if you have other viewing plans for that day.