Celestial event for the day

Yahoo has an article (with the usual unbloggable video) by Morgan Winsor about today's eclipse:

From Oregon to South Carolina, a total solar eclipse on Monday will darken the sky as it arcs across the contiguous United States.

A total solar eclipse is when the moon moves between the Sun and the Earth, an occurrence that lasts up to three hours from beginning to end. Monday's total solar eclipse is particularly rare, because it's the first time in a hundred years that the path of totality exclusively crosses the continental United States from coast to coast. It's also the first continent-wide eclipse to be visible only from the United States since 1776.
The last time the contiguous United States saw a total solar eclipse was 26 February 1979, when the path of totality crossed the Pacific Northwest. ABC News' Frank Reynolds anchored a special report on the celestial phenomenon at the time and pledged that the network would cover the next total solar eclipse in 2017: 

“So that’s it, the last solar eclipse to be seen on this continent in this century. As I said, not until 21 August 2017, will another eclipse be visible from North America. That’s 38 years from now. May the shadow of the moon fall on a world in peace. ABC News, of course, will bring you a complete report on that next eclipse 38 years from now,” Reynolds said before signing off.

 

On Monday, starting at 1000 Eastern time, ABC News' David Muir will lead the network's live coverage of the astronomical event from within the path of totality.
You must be in the path of totality to witness a total solar eclipse. NASA estimates more than three hundred million people in the United States could potentially view the total solar eclipse in its entirety. However, a partial solar eclipse will be visible in every state. In fact, everyone in North America, as well as parts of South America, Africa, and Europe, will see at least a partial eclipse, according to NASA.
The path of totality for the 21 August solar eclipse is a seventy-mile-wide ribbon that will cross the United States from west to east, sweeping over portions of fourteen states: Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
The moon's shadow will start to eclipse the sun over the West Coast just after 0900 Pacific time. From there, the moon's shadow will speed across the country and leave the East Coast just after 1600 Eastern time. The exact times for partial and total phases of Monday's eclipse will vary, depending on your location.
With millions of people expected to pour into the cities located within the path of totality, law enforcement, emergency personnel and hospitals there are on high alert. "It's all hands on deck," Kentucky's Madisonville Police Chief Wade Williams told ABC News. "We're kind of throwing everything at it."
The state of Oregon alone is anticipating a million visitors on Monday, causing some local hospitals to cancel elective surgeries and call in extra help for emergency rooms. Some cities even preemptively declared a state of disaster, a move that allows them to call in the National Guard to help direct the large crowds if needed. "If a police department in a certain area is overwhelmed, and they need us to help come and set up traffic control check points, we're ready to do that," Oregon National Guard spokesperson Leslie Reed told ABC News.
More than than seventeen thousand cars and SUVs have already been rented for Monday at Oregon's Portland International Airport, a number it normally hits over an entire week.

Rico says he'll be watching the television version, rather than risk burning his retinas...