Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The National Park Service is partnering with NASA to live-stream the eclipse from Clingmans Dome, the highest point in the park (and in all of Tennessee). The events there are sold out, but canceled tickets will be made available. Free events are also planned for two other locations in the park: Cable Mill (Cades Cove) and the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. At Clingman's Dome, the partial phase of the eclipse starts at about 1:06 p.m., with totality arriving at 12:35 p.m. and lasting 1 minute and 24 seconds. On the western side of the park, near towns such as Alcoa, the eclipse starts two minutes earlier.
Mountains to the Sea
The eclipse will hit the mountains of North Carolina and race to the beaches of South Carolina — not unlike the Chevy Thunderbird in the image — and reach Fort Sumter National Monument at just after 1:16 p.m. on Aug. 21. South Carolina is the last landfall of the moon's shadow; after that, it's ocean all the way.
Go for the Sun, Stay for the Stars
This handy graphic representation shows the extent that the sun will be covered by the moon as you travel north and south of the eclipse track. The poster not only evokes the spirit of national parks, but also serves as a good astronomical guide.
From Sea to Shining Sea
As the first eclipse in the continental U.S. in decades and, making it even more unusual, one with a track from the Pacific to Atlantic, this event's geography is notable. Nordgren brings that out with two widely separated lighthouses: one facing west from Oregon and the other the historic Morris Island Light in Charleston, South Carolina.
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