The August 2017 solar eclipse is the chance of a lifetime for astronomer Shadia Habbal-years of planning come down to one moment of totality. Will everything go off as planned? On August 21, 2017, much of America stood still and looked up as a wide swath of the country experienced totality-a full solar eclipse. Even in areas outside the path of totality, people watched in awe as the moon cast its shadow on the sun. For most, this was simply a once-in-a-lifetime...

Eclipses have stunned, frightened, emboldened, and mesmerized people for thousands of years. They were recorded on ancient turtle shells discovered in the Wastes of Yin in China, on clay tablets from Mesopotamia and on the Mayan "Dresden Codex." They are mentioned in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and at least eight times in the Bible. Columbus used them to trick people, while Renaissance painter Taddeo Gaddi was blinded by one. Sorcery was banished within...

On August 21st, over one hundred million people will gather across the USA to witness the most-watched total solar eclipse in history. Eclipse: Journeys to the Dark Side of the Moon, by popular science author Frank Close, describes the spellbinding allure of this beautiful natural phenomenon. The book explains why eclipses happen, reveals their role in history, literature and myth, and introduces us to eclipse chasers, who travel with ecstatic fervor...

Seeing a total solar eclipse ('totality' - when the sun is fully obscured by the moon) is a bucket-list event, generating a sense of wonder and even an 'end-of-the-world' sensation. New from Bradt, Solar Eclipses 2024-2027 is the only guide to cover the world's next three total solar eclipses, arguably Nature's most incredible spectacle. Written by an eclipse expert, this guide offers potential eclipse-tourists and eclipse-chasers alike everything...