TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE TIMELINE

August 21, 2017

10:50 a.m.  Concordia class period ends; the next two classes are suspended for the eclipse.  

11:00 a.m.  Concordia's daily chapel service is held in the stadium.  The general public is welcome to attend!

11:30 a.m.  Schools begin arriving*; audio commentary begins over the stadium speakers. (*Schools that wish to attend chapel--please contact alumni@cune.edu for early arrival options)

11:36 a.m. "First Contact" -- Partial solar eclipse begins, as the moon's disk first touches the edge of the sun.  Solar glasses MUST be worn to view the sun for this part of the eclipse!

12:30 p.m. Latest option for school arrival

During the partial eclipse, it will slowly get darker. Shadows will sharpen, the air will cool, the wind will pick up, and nocturnal insects may begin to sing.

12:55 p.m.  In the last few minutes before totality, the sky gets a deeper and deeper dark blue and you can actually see the sliver of unobstructed sun shrink (through solar glasses only).

1:01 p.m.   "Second Contact" -- TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE, duration 1 minute 30 seconds.  This is the only part of the eclipse that can be viewed with the naked eye. The sky goes from deepest blue to bluish black.  Stars and planets become visible, shadows disappear as the light dwindles to the strength of a full moon, and the sun's corona becomes visible around the edges of the moon's disk.

1:03 p.m.   "Third Contact" -- Totality ends and a sliver of sun reappears.  Solar glasses MUST be worn to view the sun in this part of the eclipse. 

1:15 p.m.   Earliest option for bus loading -- feel free to stay and watch more of the partial eclipse (with solar glasses) as the sun is uncovered!

1:40 p.m.   Concordia classes resume

2:30 p.m.  "Fourth Contact" -- the moon's disk passes completely out of the sun's path and the eclipse ends.