Q: It's been a long time since Kansas had a visible solar eclipse. But that will change later this year, when part of extreme northeast Kansas will be in the path of a total solar eclipse. When will that happen? Give us the date of the next solar eclipse in Kansas.
A: August 21, 2017
On Monday, August 21, 2017, a solar eclipse will line up in such a way that it will give Kansas a front row seat of the Sun's corona for about two minutes over a 68-mile-wide area in extreme northeastern Kansas. The last eclipse visible from the United States was in 1979, but this is the first time Kansas will have a visible total solar eclipse in nearly 100 years.
Here's a map of the pathway of the All-American solar eclipse, which will be visible from sea to shining sea across the USA.
Better start preparing now if you want to see it. You'll need special solar eclipse sunglasses (or some other contraption) to view the eclipse because you WON'T want to look at the sun with your naked eyes -- or even through a telescope, binoculars or a camera lens UNLESS you are using special solar filters for these devices!
Dozens of communities in northeast Kansas are preparing special celebrations for the solar eclipse because, well... you don't get to see one of these celestial events every day in Kansas. As an example, here's what the folks in Doniphan County, Kansas, are doing to celebrate.
And folks in Hiawatha, Kansas are holding a Brown County Blackout!
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