New solar eclipse simulator shows you what to expect this summer
A big solar event is taking place across North America in August and to prepare for the big blackout (a whole two minutes in some places) Google and UC Berkeley teamed up to show what the total solar eclipse will look like based on where you are.
They've launched a special simulator, part of the broader Eclipse Megamovie Project, which will give a glimpse of what to expect on August 21.
Anyone on the path of the solar eclipse -- like Carbondale, Illinois where the max totality is 2 minutes and 40 seconds -- is in for a rare show. For those off the path, it's going to be a bit underwhelming.
To get a sense of what it'll look like when the moon gets between the sun and the earth in the first total solar eclipse to cross the U.S. in almost 100 years, you just plug in your address or city and watch the simulation.
The project is stitching together thousands of images from citizens along the path to put together a video of the total solar eclipse.
If anyone wants to get involved in the project they can -- you just sign up with your Google account and upload materials. Before you attempt to film the sun, though, the team has some safety guidelines to read. We'd recommend following those.
Before Aug. 21 rolls around the Megamovie Project has plenty of resources and NASA explainers to become a solar eclipse expert. The next one like this isn't until 2045 -- so the time to get involved is now.
Topics Google
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
