2017 solar eclipse

Next year's solar eclipse that will be visible across North America on Aug. 21, 2017, will provide an opportunity to take the article by Michael J. Burin, “Some Daytime Activities in Solar Astronomy” (TPT, Jan. 2016, p. 36) to the next level. The band of totality—the only region from which the exciting phenomena of the diamond-ring effect and the solar corona will be visible—is only about 70 miles wide, stretching from Oregon through Wyoming to South Carolina, with cloudiness statistics more favorable for western sites. Coverage of the solar disk by the Moon in the United States will be over 70% of the solar diameter from Los Angeles and over 80% from Miami and New York, with 97% coverage from Atlanta (of special interest because the AAPT meeting is to be held there in February 2017 and where, incidentally, I have been invited to give a plenary lecture...