Black Hole Sun..Won’t You Come: Total Solar Eclipse To Be Seen In Rutherford

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One of the biggest cosmic events in awhile will track it’s way across Rutherford County this August. A total solar eclipse will pass through on August 21. Rutherford County lies just outside the “totality path”. Meaning the path where for just over a minute you will see a totally covered sun. Everyone in the area will see at least a partial eclipse. Parties are being planned. Nashville has already proclaimed this as Eclipse Day and is the largest city in the path of the eclipse.

FACT: The last total solar eclipse visible from Nashville happened July 29, 1478. It is on average almost 400 years between total eclipses for a given location. Partial eclipses are more common, but are often not noticed. Unless you know that a partial eclipse is in progress, the difference in light is not usually noticed by our eyes.

SolarEclipse2017.org Maps The Path

Nashville. Home to the Grand Ol’ Opry, and mecca for country crooners worldwide. But on this day, the great capital of Tennessee has a new claim to fame – a total eclipse! That’s right – after blocking out the sun for the fine citizens of Clarksville (2m17s at 1:25pm – and don’t forget about our soldiers at Fort Campbell!), Springfield (2m36s at 1:26pm), Portland (2m37s at 1:27), and Westmoreland (2m28 at 1:27), the shadow pays a visit to the crown jewel of Country! It could be better – Nashville lies close to the southern edge of the path, so it doesn’t get as much totality as we’d like, but all the city limits, and most of the suburbs, will bask in the shadow! Residents of Franklin and Kingston Springs will be left out of totality, and Brentwood lies just inside the path, so people there should head northeast. But, on the grounds of the State Capitol in Nashville, people will see 1m54s of totality at 1:27pm – a very respectable eclipse! And, heading northeast to the grounds of the Grand Ol’ Opry, folks along beautiful Briley Parkway will see 2m13s (also at 1:27)!! If you’re in Lebanon, you can stay put, because you’ll enjoy 2m24s of totality a minute later!

The rest areas on I-40, just west of the exit at Buffalo Valley, are right on the centerline, by the way!

Murfreesboro is yet another of those nice, big towns that lie right on the edge of the path. Sparta and Baxter lie right on the centerline, so you might want to head out there to see the show!

Crossville (2m31s at 1:31pm) is the last larger town the path hits within the Central Time Zone, and as the shadow hops the mighty Tennessee River, residents of Dayton will experience 2m21s at about the same time (except that there, it’ll be 2:31pm!).

Residents of Cleveland, beware! Your town is right on the southern edge of the path, and you should consider hopping north to Athens orSweetwater. (Here is our page for Cleveland, so you can see the path in relation to your town.) Residents of Chattanooga, ditto, except that if you stay put, there’ll be no show at all for you! Got that? Chattanooga is not in the path, and neither is Knoxville! Well, the very far southern suburbs of Knoxville are, but you won’t get much totality, and who wants that? I-75 south is your best friend – take advantage of it! Here is a little more detailed map of Knoxville. Everyone at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville should hold class a few miles farther south, and enjoy the eclipse!

RutherfordSource.com will follow the weather coming up to the big day and tell you where the watch parties are in the area.