Those maps of eclipse's path? 'Wrong,' experts say off by up to a half-mile at edge

[mfcorey1]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/those-maps-of-eclipses-path-wrong-experts-say-—-off-by-up-to-a-half-mile-at-edge/ar-AApSdOU?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout


Anyone who has been using online maps to decide where they intend to view the historic Aug. 21 total eclipse of the sun may want to take another look.
Those maps, provided by NASA and others, show a crisply defined, 70-mile-wide path of totality where the moon will block 100 percent of the sun. But they are not as precise as they appear, at least on their edges.

The southern edge of the path as shown on the maps could be off by as little as the length of a football field or as much as a half-mile, eclipse mapping experts say. Likewise for the northern edge, meaning the path of totality might be just 69 miles wide.

"This is an issue. This is really an issue, but it's not advertised. ... Yeah, all the maps are wrong," Mike Kentrianakis, the solar eclipse project manager for the American Astronomical Society and who routinely consults with NASA, told The Kansas City Star.

It effectively means that people who assumed, based on the Google maps, that their location was just within the path of totality — thus expecting to witness a few seconds of total eclipse — will instead see a partial eclipse. That could turn out to be a total disappointment, according to eclipse experts, who say that observing even a 99.9 percent partial eclipse is not at all the same as viewing a total eclipse.

It's been nearly 40 years since a total solar eclipse crossed part of the contiguous United States. Ninety-nine years have passed since one spanned the breadth of the continent, as will happen Aug. 21. Knowing precisely where the path of totality begins and ends is crucial.

Current maps show the eclipse's southern edge cutting through downtown Kansas City south of Interstate 70, slicing across buildings, including The Star newspaper's brick edifice at 1729 Grand Blvd. The maps place the north part of The Star's block inside the path of totality and the south part outside the path.

And they do it with great precision. Click on a point in the parking lot south of The Star building: no totality.

Click on a point in the north parking lot and the map says, to a tenth of a second, that the total eclipse will start at 1:08:49.2 p.m. and end at 1:08:57.9.

[ThoughtCriminal]

1. You don't have to be on the center line

but the closer you are, the longer totality will last.

[cbdo2007]

2. Anyone who is disappointed by a 1 second difference needs to get over it.

These people are right on the line anyways, meaning at most they are getting one second of eclipse. So maybe they won't get a whole second of eclipse...the difference between no totality and one second is barely even noticeable. If people really cared they would drive 15 miles north and get at least a minute of totality.

[Cracklin Charlie]

3. Oops!

Looks like my daughter will have to walk a few blocks north of her work to be in totality. At least she can stop at Arthur Bryants for barbecue on the way.

The folks at the Star can all just huddle on the north side of the building.