Eclipse Atlas

The newly launched Eclipse Atlas website contains “over 2,000 historic and modern eclipse maps dating from 1654 to the present” as well as maps & guides for future eclipses. “Eclipse Atlas is a passion project of Michael Zeiler to celebrate the beauty of historic eclipse maps and to serve as a gallery of his eclipse cartography. You cannot completely prepare yourself for the sight of your first total solar eclipse. When totality arrives, you will likely experience several emotions and wonderment at the unspeakable beauty of the corona and the panoply of colors and light. Many people involuntarily scream, gasp, and often cry at this astounding vision. First timers are especially likely to shed a few tears, often followed by sheer exhilaration. You will be looking straight down the cosmic billiard shot of the Earth, Moon, and Sun lined up perfectly. By celestial coincidence, the Sun and Moon’s apparent disks in the sky are nearly the same. This serendipitous fact allows the Sun to be completely covered during eclipse yet also allows us to see the Sun’s atmosphere, its corona. The corona is hidden from us all our lives except for the very special moments during a total solar eclipse…”