WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Mark your calendars for Aug. 21, 2017. That's when all of North America will get a once-in-a-lifetime glimpse at a total solar eclipse. 
 
 The Great American Eclipse, as its been dubbed, will be visible to millions across the United States for the first time in nearly four decades. It will mark the first time this century a total solar eclipse will cross through the contiguous United States. It's also the first time the shadow track, called the path of totality, will sweep across the U.S. and no other country. About 200 million people will be able to reach the path of the eclipse, which will sweep the nation from South Carolina to Oregon, within a one-day drive. 
 
 Officials in Hopkinsville, Ky., are calling it the largest event to hit the town of 32,000. The town will experience the longest period of totality of any city at 2 minutes and 40 seconds. City leaders are anticipating up to 50,000 visitors will bring some $23.6 million into the area. They recently unveiled the city's logo for the event and are planning for days-long festivities. 
 
 "It is a unique opportunity and it's our great excuse to roll out the red carpet and be the best version of Hopkinsville we can possibly be," said Mayor Carter Hendricks. "Science has given us the best viewing location just north of Hopkinsville. It is up to us to promote properly so people want to come and be here." ||||| Next Monday, sky watchers from the beaches of Oregon through the midsection of America and down the South Carolina coastline, will be trying to catch a glimpse of the first total solar eclipse across the U.S. in 99 years. But in the so-called path of totality—a 70-or-so-mile-wide band in which parts of the country will be in complete daytime darkness for two-plus minutes—bartenders, winemakers, and distillers are hoping for another cosmic call: “Another round, please!” 
 
 Here’s how five distillers, winemakers, and brewers are prepping for when the sun suddenly goes dark. 
 
 MADRAS, OREGON—Totality Strikes: 10:19 a.m. PDT 
 
 When it comes to claims to fame, tiny Madras, Oregon (pop: roughly 6,700), usually boasts about being America’s carrot seed capital. But on eclipse day, Madras becomes a prime viewing spot in the state where the eclipse first strikes U.S. soil. More than 100,000 people are expected to cram into the central Oregon high-desert town for the event, attracted by wide-open vistas, predictably clear summer skies, and 2 minutes, 2 seconds of total darkness, one of the longest spans in the Northwest. 
 
 Rick Molitor has something else waiting for them: American Strong’er, a 97-proof whiskey he has distilled specially for eclipse day. Two years ago, Molitor, along with four drinking buddies, opened New Basin and came out with American Strong Light, a whiskey named after Jedediah Strong Smith, an early Western settler. For the Strong’er version, he tweaked the final product, upping the proof from 80 to 97. Why 97? It’s a nod to Highway 97, which bisects Madras and will lead many an eclipse watcher into town for the moon show—and ideally to his distillery. 
 
 In the days leading up to the eclipse Madras will stage Solarfest, a county fair-like celebration featuring 20 bands, balloon rides, and NASA scientists holding court for the thousands of campers slated to hit town. Molitor is also hosting a VIP breakfast that day for about 50 guests. They’ll first get to see his 300-gallon still, and then sit back and view the eclipse without having to compete with the throngs for a spot. He’s also thinking of using the three hours it takes for the moon to pass by the sun to keep his still running. “If we do a small batch and get it just dialed,” he says, “I’ll be able to claim that it was made during the eclipse.” 
 
 CASPER, WYOMING—Totality Strikes: 11:42 a.m. MDT 
 
 Amber Pollock says her hometown of Casper, Wyoming, has long been viewed as “a beer-drinking town.” Come eclipse day, she’s seeking to change that perception—if not forever then at least for the time it takes for midday darkness to come and go. 
 
 She’s hosting an all-day watch party at her family-owned Backwards Distilling Company, and during two-hour blocks, Pollock will serve cocktails named after the evolving sky. For instance, starting at 9 a.m., there’s the Eclipse Chaser—cold-brewed coffee and fresh-squeezed orange juice, with muddled blueberries, tiki bitters, and an optional shot of Backwards’ own Sword Swallower Rum. Then, around 11 a.m., shortly after the moon first starts shading the sun, Pollock will offer up the First Contact: house-made pineapple lemonade, house-made grenadine, and 307 Eclipse Edition Vodka, a special version of the spirit that helped launch her family’s distillery two-and-a-half years ago. 
 
 Named after Wyoming’s sole area code, the 307 Vodka was developed by Pollock’s younger brother, Chad. “There were a lot of places serving Jack & Cokes [in Casper], but not many where you were going to find fresh squeezed juice,” says Pollock, a former elementary school teacher who launched Backwards with her brother and parents in 2014. “We had to open a facility to showcase our products in a way we wanted them to be showcased.” 
 
 Backwards, Casper’s only spirits distillery, has a tasting area that seats 52. Pollock hopes to double that number on eclipse day, drawing from the 35,000 visitors the city is expecting. (Total eclipse time in Casper: 2 minute, 26 seconds.) Besides offering unobstructed views from the distillery’s site, located on an elevated space away from downtown, Pollock has booked Inda Eaton, a Long Island-based singer-songwriter who grew up in Casper, to perform. Eaton goes on once the sun returns, and once Pollock’s last eclipse-day concoction—the Corona, a mix of milk can cinnamon moonshine, pineapple juice, lemon juice, vanilla, and bitters—is making the rounds. 
 
 MAKANDA, ILLINOIS—Totality Strikes: 1:20 p.m. CDT 
 
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 Back in 2014, Jim Ewers, who owns and operates Blue Sky Vineyard in Makanda, got a call from a stargazing junkie in Germany. The caller wanted to know if she could book a room at Ewers’ winery—for August 2017. Before that reservation request, Ewers had no clue about the coming eclipse, and that his vineyard was prime real estate for eclipse chasers. “I basically added 50 percent to the price I was charging at the time,” recalls Ewers, whose winery includes a few guest rooms. “She never took it, which worked out well because I’ve since gotten more [for the room].” 
 
 If the moon and sun line up according to star experts’ predictions, then Makanda is considered Ground Zero; total darkness in the southern Illinois town (pop: 544) is slated to last 2 minutes, 40.2 seconds, the longest duration of darkness in the country. Ewers plans to take full advantage of the designation. He’s expecting 3,000 to 5,000 people to make use of his 600-acre vineyard in the Shawnee Hills region of southern Illinois. (Ewers is charging $100 a night for RV campers.) He also bottled 100 cases of Solar Eclipse Wine, a specially made dry and, befitting the day, dark red wine he hopes to sell out by the time the crowds leave. The wine is a blend of two grapes grown in Ewers’ vineyard: Champbourcin, a French-American hybrid that Ewers says is low in tannin and fairly fruity, and Norton, a dark grape. “You can crush it and you get a high percentage of skin to juice,” Ewers explains. “You can extract more color out of the skin so you get a nice rich color out of it.” 
 
 Along with pushing the wine, Ewers has used the final days before the eclipse to map out where the rush of RVs will park, where to put a group of stargazing enthusiasts from Spain so they have a bit of seclusion and where to mount a specially commissioned piece of abstract artwork— aptly titled “He Flew Too Close to the Sun”—near the winery. The pace has left Ewers to admit, “I can’t wait until the 22nd. I want it all behind me.” 
 
 Perhaps, but he also knows what lies ahead. Come April 8, 2024, when the next total solar eclipse is slated for the U.S., his vineyard once again will be in the path of totality. 
 
 HOPKINSVILLE, KENTUCKY—Totality Strikes: 1:24 p.m. CDT 
 
 Peg Hays has been aware of the approaching eclipse for 10 years, even before she and her husband, AJ Jones, bought land in Hopkinsville and decided to open the Casey Jones Distillery on it. She’s watched dozens of clips of past eclipses on YouTube. She jokingly calls herself the “Empress of the Eclipse.” 
 
 So, when darkness strikes on Aug. 21, she’ll be ready. Totality, she says, is “at 1:24 pm Central Daylight Time, for 2:40 seconds. At 1:20 I’m going to go to the bathroom; I have that on my calendar already. Then I’m going to get outside and be with the crowd and watch it, let everything else go to hell, and watch this eclipse.” 
 
 A couple of weeks before the big day, Hays isn’t sure if the crowd camping out on her property will be “500 or 5,000.” Doesn’t matter. She’s hosting a three-day party featuring blue-grass bands, food trucks, and a barber giving E-clips. 
 
 And, no doubt, she’ll be pouring her distillery’s Total Eclipse Moonshine, made from yellow dent corn that’s locally grown. “We are Kentucky proud,” she boasts, then jokes: “You can have a total or partial eclipse right now by opening up a bottle.” 
 
 The trademarked 100-proof spirit comes from a still that’s a duplicate of the last one built by Casey Jones, a Prohibition-era still maker and AJ’s grandfather. “This region [western Kentucky] was known during Prohibition as a great place to get great moonshine product,” says Hays, who began distilling on her property with AJ two years ago. 
 
 Hays has already sold more than 5,000 bottles of the special moonshine. During eclipse weekend, she expects to sell a few more. That’s because Hopkinsville, with 32,000 residents, is gearing up for 200,000 sightseers, scientists, and, well, party-chasers to come for eclipse weekend. Hopkinsville even rebranded itself “Eclipseville” thanks to researchers determining it’s where the Point of Greatest Eclipse will occur—or “where the width of the moon’s shadow is widest,” according to Solar.com. (Darkness in Hopkinsville will be just .1 second shorter than in Makanda.) 
 
 But come totality time don’t expect Hays to be behind the counter. “In fact,” she says, “when we hand out parking passes, we’re going to tell people that at 1 p.m. we’re locking up the distillery and letting everyone experience the eclipse, including our staff.” She pauses, then, with a laugh, says, “Last call.” 
 
 COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA—Totality Strikes: 2:41 p.m. EDT 
 
 Speaking of last call… Two years ago, when Bryan O’Neal heard that his home state, South Carolina, would be the end of the line for Eclipse 2017, it got him thinking. And then, when he heard about the estimated number of out-of-state visitors the eclipse would draw to the state capital, Columbia, located 50 miles south of his brewery, it really got him thinking. He told himself, “If there’s going to be a million people, we’re going to brew a beer for this. This is a once-in-a hundred-year opportunity.” 
 
 O’Neal, who built swimming pools for 22 years before opening Benford Brewing on his cattle farm in Lancaster four years ago, quickly got to work. Wanting an “extremely dark” IPA for the day, he tweaked one of his recipes by using midnight wheat. “So it has a hint of porter at the beginning,” says O’Neal, “and then the hops explode with Mosaic, El Dorado, and Citra.” He called it Carolina Blackout and had a specially designed label prepared for it, using a variation of the state symbol—a Palmetto tree with a crescent moon—by switching in an eclipse moon. He included the date, Aug. 21, 2017. 
 
 And he trademarked Carolina Blackout. By starting early, he says, “we would beat all the other brewers to the punch and own the eclipse. And this is what pretty much happened.” Fortunately for O’Neal, the path of totality in South Carolina includes Columbia, Clemson, and Charleston, locations of many of his retailers. “It’s going to be like St. Patrick’s Day,” says O’Neal. “In the week of the eclipse they are going to want [Carolina Blackout] like they want green beer.” 
 
 On eclipse day, O’Neal will head to Columbia to watch the moon at work from a friend’s rooftop terrace, have a Blackout (or two), and revel in a once-in-a-lifetime sight. “South Carolina is home, and I am proud of my state,” says O’Neal. “The fact that we are getting this attention nationally is a good opportunity for the brewery and the state. It’s going to be a pretty special day.” ||||| Two years from today, on Aug. 21, 2017, North Americans will get an opportunity to observe nature's greatest sky show. 
 
 Picture this: The day starts off bright and sunny. Then, a bit later, you begin to notice that, although it is still sunny, the day doesn't seem quite so bright. And still a little while later, it almost seems like some big storm is brewing. Then, suddenly, and without any warning, the midsummer day turns strangely dark. 
 
 A few stars come out. Birds and animals become confused and quickly head home to sleep. Night insects begin to chirp. All around the horizon, there is a strange yellow-orange glow resembling a weird sunset. And meanwhile, up in the sky where the sun should be, there appears instead a jet-black disk surrounded by a softly glowing halo. [Amazing 2015 Solar Eclipse Photos] 
 
 Then, just as suddenly, the sky brightens up. The stars disappear, birds and animals awaken, and the sun returns. 
 
 What you have just witnessed is a total eclipse of the sun. 
 
 This total solar eclipse of 2017 will be the first time in nearly four decades that such an event will be visible so close to home. "Close," of course, is a relative term. But for most Americans, this spectacular phenomenon will occur literally in their own backyards. 
 
 Contrary to popular belief, totalsolar eclipses are not particularly rare. Astronomers predict 68 to take place during the present century — one about every 17.6 months. On such occasions, the moon casts its dark, slender cone of shadow (called the umbra) upon the Earth's surface. [How Solar Eclipses Work (Infographic)] 
 
 The track traced by the moon's umbra can run for many thousands of miles, but it's also very narrow — at most, about 167 miles (268 kilometers) wide. For this reason, it has been calculated that, on average, a total eclipse of the sun is visible from the same spot on Earth only once in about every 375 years. 
 
 In recent years, for instance, assiduous eclipse chasers had to travel to remote locations such as Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada (2008), Easter Island (2010) or the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard (2015). 
 
 Map showing the path of totality across the United States for the total solar eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017. Credit: Fred Espenak/NASA GSFC 
 
 But Aug. 21, 2017, will mark the first time this century, and the first time since 1979, that a total solar eclipse will cross the contiguous (lower 48) United States (Alaska had its turn in 1990; Hawaii in 1991). And for the very first time, the shadow track — better known as the "path of totality" — will sweep only over the United States and no other country, leading some people to refer to this upcoming event as "The Great American Eclipse." 
 
 Many Americans taking full advantage of this event's close proximity to their homes will have a golden opportunity to witness firsthand one of the most beautiful and most exciting of nature's sky events. The total eclipse will be seen by an estimated 12 million people who fortuitously live within the totality path. However, the number of people who are within just one day's drive of the totality zone is probably around 200 million. [How to Safely Photograph the Sun (Photo Guide)] 
 
 Not since 1970 has there been an opportunity to see a total solar eclipse in such easily accessible and widespread areas of the United States. There have been a couple of limited opportunities, such as in 1972 (Quebec and the adjacent Canadian Maritime Provinces) and 1979 (the Pacific Northwest and Northern Plains), but the areas of visibility were either limited or somewhat difficult to reach. And not until April 2024 will there be another opportunity comparable to that offered on Aug. 21, 2017. 
 
 Also, for the first time since 1918, the moon's dark shadow will sweep across the U.S. from coast to coast. At local sunrise on this third Monday in August, the shadow of the moon will first touch the Earth at a point in the North Pacific Ocean, about 1,500 miles (2,414 km) northwest of the Hawaiian Islands. Then, for 3 hours and 13 minutes, the shadow will race first east-northeast, then east and finally southeast, along the way darkening a narrow strip of the North American continent. 
 
 Initially, the shadow will traverse nothing but wide-open ocean for 28 minutes. Finally, it will make landfall along the coast of Oregon at the community of Lincoln Beach. Traversing the United States, the total eclipse will be visible within a path of darkness stretching from Oregon and then on through Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and, finally, South Carolina. 
 
 The path will average 67 miles (108 km) in width, but while moving through western Kentucky, about 12 miles (19 km) northwest of the town of Hopkinsville, the shadow's size will widen to a maximum of 71 miles (114 km). 
 
 Because the moon's shadow is moving at such a tremendous speed, totality cannot last very long in any one place. The duration of the total phase is always longest along the center of the shadow's path. As an observer moves away from the center, the duration of totality time decreases, becoming zero along the path's edges. [Video: How Total Solar Eclipse Photos Help Astronomers] 
 
 Right at the Oregon coastline, totality lasts 1 minute and 59 seconds, as the shadow will be traveling at more than three times the speed of sound (2,400 mph, or 3,900 km/h). Heading southeast along the center line, the totality time slowly lengthens, reaching a maximum of 2 minutes and 40.3 seconds at a spot in southern Illinois about a dozen miles (about 20 km) southeast of the city of Carbondale. 
 
 The shadow — which, at this point, has slowed to 1,450 mph (2,330 km/h) — then begins to increase in speed, and the duration of totality subsequently begins to diminish. Indeed, when it arrives at the South Carolina coastline, the duration of totality will have dropped to 2 minutes and 34 seconds. The shadow then exits out to sea, finally leaving the Earth 75 minutes later at local sunset in the North Atlantic Ocean, 390 miles (627 km) to the southwest of the island nation of Cape Verde. 
 
 Notable cities inside the totality path include Idaho Falls, Idaho; Casper, Wyoming; Grand Island, Nebraska; Lincoln, Nebraska; Columbia, Missouri; Nashville, Tennessee; Columbia, South Carolina; and Charleston, South Carolina. The metropolitan areas of Kansas City, Missouri, and St. Louis are right on the edge of the totality path. 
 
 Warning: Never stare directly at the sun, either with your unaided eye or through telescopes and binoculars, without proper protection. Serious eye damage can occur. Solar eclipse observers and astronomers use special filters to safely observe the sun. 
 
 Weather experts have performed studies to help observers pick the best opportunity for cloudless skies in and near the path of totality on Aug. 21, 2017. 
 
 The best chances for a clear look appear to be in the area running from western Oregon through Wyoming, where, on average, the odds are on the order of about 70 percent. Going farther east, the odds of clear skies gradually diminish; from Kentucky to the Atlantic coast, it's just about a coin toss for favorable weather: just 50-50. 
 
 Starting the week before, the National Weather Service will provide increasingly reliable forecasts, which will enable people to choose a location where the chances of a cloudy sky are low. 
 
 Surrounding the dark umbra is the penumbra, or partial shadow. It will also be conical but much larger — nearly 6,000 miles (9,700 km) in diameter. The penumbra is simply the half shadow that lies outside every deep shadow, whether it is cast by the moon or a house. Wherever the penumbra falls, a partial eclipsewill occur. 
 
 All of North America will be inside the penumbra, causing a rather large partial eclipse for much of the U.S. and portions of southwest Canada. The closer you station yourself to the path of totality, the greater the magnitude of the partial eclipse will be. When watching the partial phases, observers should take precautions while viewing the still blindingly bright sun. 
 
 A number of large cities will lie just outside the totality zone and will see the sun cut down to an exceedingly thin sliver of light. These include Portland, Oregon; Omaha, Nebraska; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Atlanta. From these cities, a strangely weird twilight effect will fall for a couple of minutes. 
 
 But a partial solar eclipse pales in comparison to a total one, even when 99 percent of the sun's disk is obscured. The great show can only begin at the moment when the last speck of sunlight is extinguished. And only when it's in total eclipse is the sun perfectly safe to look at; only inside the totality path itself can you witness the full grandeur of the eclipse. For that reason, many people will likely journey to position themselves within the path. 
 
 Many of us take the sun for granted, giving it little thought until it scorches our skin or gets in our eyes. But our star is a fascinating and complex object, a gigantic fusion reactor that gives us life. How much do you know about the sun? Start the Quiz 0 of 10 questions complete 
 
 Solar Quiz: How Well Do You Know Our Sun? Many of us take the sun for granted, giving it little thought until it scorches our skin or gets in our eyes. But our star is a fascinating and complex object, a gigantic fusion reactor that gives us life. How much do you know about the sun? 0 of questions complete 
 
 Without a doubt, the "All American Eclipse" will be one of the big news stories of 2017. 
 
 The major news networks will certainly deploy teams of cameras and reporters along the totality path and will follow the moon's umbra during its 90-minute sweep across the contiguous United States. Media coverage — at least for this one day — could be reminiscent of the coverage accompanying the first flights of the space shuttle. 
 
 In short, the third Monday in August 2017 will be an amazing day. Mark your calendars! 
 
 2017 ECLIPSE WEBSITES: 
 
 http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html 
 
 http://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/eclipse-2017/ 
 
 http://www.eclipse2017.org/2017/path_through_the_US.htm 
 
 http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/Eclipse2017.php 
 
 http://www.shadowandsubstance.com/2017/2017e.html 
 
 Editor's note: If you have a skywatching photo that you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, send images and comments in to Space.com at spacephotos@space.com. 
 
 Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmer's Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. ||||| What has been dubbed the U.S. eclipse of the century could draw as many as 7 million people to the areas in which the sun will be 100% blocked out. The region runs from Oregon diagonally across the country to South Carolina. 
 
 GreatAmericanEclipse.com reports that 12.25 million people already live in the area where the sun will be completely blotted out by the moon. This area is about 65 miles wide. Based on the location of the path, a huge number of Americans could travel to the area to watch the event on August 21. The organization’s experts report: 
 
 The path of totality cuts a diagonal path across the nation from Oregon to South Carolina and most Americans live within a day’s drive to the path of totality. The United States has an excellent highway system and most American families have it within their means to take a short driving vacation. August is an ideal month for a vacation; the weather is warm and the chance of summer storms has diminished in much of the nation. Most schools have not yet begun their fall session by August 21st and some schools near the path of totality are scheduling a late start. Social media will have a huge impact on motivating eclipse visitors. The eclipse is exactly the type of event guaranteed to go viral on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social platforms. We expect that many people will only make plans to go in the week before eclipse day. 
 
 Take a vacation, see the eclipse. 
 
 The organization did some very rough math about how many people would actually travel to witness the event, and the range of their estimate is very broad: 
 
 A person who is 200 miles away from the centerline of eclipse will have certainly heard about the eclipse within the week before from TV or social media. This average person will receive the impression that the total solar eclipse is something very special to see. Not every one has the freedom to travel. Monday is a work day and for some, a school day. Some may also be deterred by myths about viewing the eclipse or scary stories of traffic congestion. Despite the many news stories about the spectacle of the eclipse, some people will be completely disinterested in the eclipse. Based on this profile of an average person living 200 miles away, I estimate that this population has a high probability of 2% to drive into the path of totality and a low probability of 0.5%. I halve these estimates for people living 400 miles away. I further halve these estimates for people living 800 miles away. I apply this formula to every populated area in the United States using ArcGIS software by Esri. 
 
 The sum estimate from this analysis is that between 1.85 and 7.4 million people will visit the path of totality on eclipse day. 
 
 The “school day” part is s real hindrance to people who want to see a once-in-a-lifetime event.
– Ever dreamed of seeing the sky darken and the stars twinkle in the middle of a summer's day? Then mark your calendar for Aug. 21, 2017, because if you're in the US the chances are good that you'll be among the 200 million or so people within a day's drive of the country's first total eclipse of the sun since 1979, reports Space.com. While total solar eclipses are more common than many realize, with 68 this century, this eclipse will be the first since 1918 where the moon's shadow—the so-called "path of totality"—will sweep across the US from coast to coast. It's being called the Great American Eclipse because it will be visible from no other country on the planet. Total eclipses are technically "a fluke of celestial mechanics and time," adds Space.com, because right now the moon, which is gradually moving away from Earth, happens to be the perfect distance to appear equal in size to the sun. The moon's shadow will totally block the sun for the longest duration, two minutes and 40 seconds, just outside of Hopkinsville, Ky., and is being hailed as the largest event to ever hit the town of 32,000 people, reports UPI. But the best bet for clear viewing is said to be in Oregon, where totality will only last 2 minutes but there's a 70% chance of clear skies, as opposed to just 50% from Kentucky east through South Carolina. The path of totality will average 67 miles in width, with a few notable cities in its path, including Lincoln, Neb., Columbia, Mo., and Nashville, Tenn. To those outside the path of totality but in the continental US, a partial eclipse should still be visible, though the sky will be considerably less dark. (The last total solar eclipse was in March.)