On August 21 2017, an exciting phenomenon is taking place across the United States: the total eclipse. The total eclipse occurs when the moon blocks out the sun completely. This form of eclipse hasn’t occurred in around 100 years.

This eclipse will be visible from almost all sections of North America, however the moon only completely blocks out the sun in the “path of totality”. The path reaches from Oregon to South Carolina and is about 70 miles wide, according to Space.com.

The eclipse will last for about four hours from start to completion. In Illinois around 87% of the sun will be covered at “peak totality” this takes place around 1:19pm CST, according to Palatine High school science department chair, Dr. Carl Garrison.

The eclipse will be viewed by many spectators, however there is some risk that comes along with viewing the eclipse.

“People might think, well it’s all blocked, I can just look at the sun.” claimed Dr. Garrison. “But 11% of the damaging rays will still be landing on your eyes.”

For this reason it is important for those who plan to watch the eclipse to come equipped with special viewing sunglasses.

During the eclipse the audience will be to see parts of the sun, which are not often viewable to the naked eye.

“The sun is so bright you can’t see those really close layers that aren’t as bright as the corona,” Dr Carl Garrison said. “So during the eclipse you get to the see those close layers.”

There will also be a slight drop in temperature in Palatine. In the path of totality there will be a thirty degree drop in temperature, according to Palatine High school science teacher, Thomas Miller. The path of totality the stars will even start to come out and the crickets may possibly chirp as if it’s nighttime.

Overall, the eclipse is bound to be a memorable experience which will not be viewable again until 2024. After 2024, however, the United States will not see another total eclipse until 2045.