{"id":4589,"date":"2017-07-21T11:40:37","date_gmt":"2017-07-21T15:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=4589"},"modified":"2017-07-21T11:40:37","modified_gmt":"2017-07-21T15:40:37","slug":"mapping-the-august-2017-solar-eclipse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/07\/mapping-the-august-2017-solar-eclipse\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapping the August 2017 Solar Eclipse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Drive<\/a>
Michael Zeiler, GreatAmericanEclipse.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eclipse maps\u2014maps that show the path of solar eclipses across the surface of the Earth\u2014are very much a thing. As I wrote in my first blog post about eclipse maps back in 2010<\/a>, “These maps are vital to eclipse chasers, who spend vast sums travelling to places where they can see one, and those slightly less insane who nevertheless are interested in when the next one comes around.”\u00a0Eclipse chasers are already getting ready for next month’s solar eclipse, which transects the continental United States on 21 August, and of course there are lots of maps.<\/p>\n

Michael Zeiler, whose website about solar eclipse maps, coincidentally called Eclipse-Maps.com<\/a>, I told you about in 2011<\/a>, has launched a separate website dedicated to next month’s eclipse, called (wait for it) GreatAmericanEclipse.com<\/a>. \u00a0There are eclipse maps for every state the path passes through, various maps presenting additional information<\/a>, and a 10-foot-long strip map of the path of totality<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But knowing an eclipse’s path isn’t always enough. There’s nothing worse than spending a fortune to get to an eclipse-viewing spot only to discover it’s clouded over. You can’t predict the skies far enough in advance, but you can factor in the likelihood that skies will be clear or cloudy for a given location, based on historical weather data. That’s what NOAA’s eclipse cloudiness maps do<\/a>. [GeoLounge<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eclipse maps\u2014maps that show the path of solar eclipses across the surface of the Earth\u2014are very much a thing. As I wrote in my first blog post about eclipse maps back in 2010, “These maps… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[864,865],"class_list":["post-4589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-astronomy","tag-eclipse","tag-eclipses","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1819028,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/10\/mapping-two-solar-eclipses\/","url_meta":{"origin":4589,"position":0},"title":"Mapping Two Solar Eclipses","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"5 October 2023","format":"link","excerpt":"Two upcoming solar eclipses in North America\u2014the annular eclipse on October 14, and the total eclipse on April 8, 2024\u2014are the subject of numerous eclipse maps that track the path of totality and its duration along that path. NASA\u2019s Solar Eclipse Explorer currently focuses on this month\u2019s annular eclipse, with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Map of the path of the annular eclipse on October 14, 2023, across the American Southwest.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/greatamericaneclipse-zeiler-annular-2023-10-1024x668.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/greatamericaneclipse-zeiler-annular-2023-10-1024x668.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/greatamericaneclipse-zeiler-annular-2023-10-1024x668.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/greatamericaneclipse-zeiler-annular-2023-10-1024x668.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1844865,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2025\/08\/eclipse-atlas-launches\/","url_meta":{"origin":4589,"position":1},"title":"Eclipse Atlas Launches","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"18 August 2025","format":"link","excerpt":"Eclipse Atlas (screenshot) Eclipse Atlas is the third iteration of Michael Zeiler\u2019s solar eclipse map websites. First there was Eclipse-Maps.com, which launched in 2010; then came the Great American Eclipse website to cover the North American total and annular eclipses in 2017, 2023 and 2024. As with Zeiler\u2019s past projects,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/eclipse-atlas-screenshot.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/eclipse-atlas-screenshot.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/eclipse-atlas-screenshot.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/eclipse-atlas-screenshot.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/eclipse-atlas-screenshot.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/eclipse-atlas-screenshot.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1834268,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/09\/nasas-more-accurate-eclipse-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":4589,"position":2},"title":"NASA’s More Accurate Eclipse Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"26 September 2024","format":"link","excerpt":"NASA SVS\/Ernie Wright and Michaela Garrison For the 2017 solar eclipse, NASA published eclipse maps that took the irregular umbral shadow of the moon into account: the umbra is neither circular nor oval but irregular\u2014more polygonal\u2014thanks to the uneven topography and elevation of both the moon and the earth. Not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/nasa-eclipse-shape.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/nasa-eclipse-shape.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/nasa-eclipse-shape.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/nasa-eclipse-shape.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/nasa-eclipse-shape.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/nasa-eclipse-shape.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4660,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/08\/an-almost-too-late-roundup-of-historical-and-unusual-eclipse-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":4589,"position":3},"title":"An Almost-Too-Late Roundup of Historical and Unusual Eclipse Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"21 August 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"I meant to post this before today's solar eclipse, but I spent a good chunk of the past few days dealing with basic site maintenance; during the eclipse itself I was, well, observing and photographing it. But while the iron may not be as red-hot as it was even eight\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/halley-eclipse-182x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1829208,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/03\/cloud-cover-risk-during-the-2024-solar-eclipse\/","url_meta":{"origin":4589,"position":4},"title":"Cloud Cover Risk During the 2024 Solar Eclipse","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"24 March 2024","format":"link","excerpt":"Eclipses aren\u2019t any fun if you travel to go see one and it\u2019s cloudy. I\u2019ve been debating with myself what to do about next month\u2019s total solar eclipse: the path of totality is a couple hours\u2019 drive away and therefore manageable, but from what I\u2019ve gathered the odds of clear\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/2024-eclipse-clouds-1-300x242.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1830074,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/04\/xkcd-every-eclipse-path-map\/","url_meta":{"origin":4589,"position":5},"title":"xkcd: ‘Every Eclipse Path Map’","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"18 April 2024","format":"link","excerpt":"Looks like we\u2019re not quite done with eclipse maps, especially the whimsical sort, and it\u2019s not at all invalid for xckd to have (what is probably going to be) the last word on the subject (at least for a while), with this fictional map showing the fictional path of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Astronomy"","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/astronomy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An xkcd cartoon about eclipse path maps.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/xkcd-every-eclipse-path-map-250x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4589"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4592,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4589\/revisions\/4592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}