What You Need To Know About the "Great American Eclipse"

After the astonishing Perseid Meteor shower, astronomers and stargazers are looking at another celestial extravaganza set to occur next year known as the "Great American Total Solar Eclipse." Despite the long anticipation, there is already some fascination expressed towards the eclipse.

PASS IT ON: 1 year from today is the next total & partial solar eclipse for the United States! #SolarEclipse #Space pic.twitter.com/qZIEYvS9wn

— Mark Tarello (@mark_tarello) August 21, 2016 

The interest can be attributed to the fact that the world hasn't seen a total solar eclipse like this since World War 1, according to a report. 

The Great American total solar eclipse will occur a year from now, August 21, 2017, and it will be visible in the U.S. But what makes it different and more special than other eclipses? For one, the last similar eclipse of this nature occurred back during the first World War and next year, the U.S. will witness a total solar eclipse, where mostly partial eclipses can be seen.

Fred Espenak from NASA said that both the partial eclipse and a total solar eclipse will be seen in the U.S. and that it will last for about 160 minutes. The path of the total solar eclipse can also be viewed from NASA's website.

People are overly excited and are preparing to witness the event as early as today. It will be the first total solar eclipse to be seen in the U.S. and the first total solar eclipse to be visible in the entire country for almost a century, according to Gizmodo. This explains the anticipation felt by many citizens who haven't witnessed a total solar eclipse in their lifetime, aside from videos uploaded on the Internet.

NASA and other eclipse-focused organization such as the Great American Eclipse have already provided the top spots to view the Great American total solar eclipse so the public can plan and prepare. The best view can be seen in places such as Snake River Valley, Idaho, Madras, Casper, Wyoming, Nashville, South Carolina and many other places in the U.S.