On August 21 , 2017 , while everyone else in North America was engaged adjusting their composition board viewing glasses and cursing at fogginess or clouds , a dedicated Google Street View driver just kept cruise through the town of Maryland Heights , Missouri ; thus conquer for descendants what it looked like to go through the 2017Great American Solar Eclipsefrom the path of totality .
The public baksheesh - off to Google ’s serendipitous astronomical picture taking add up from eclipse - chaser Michael Kentrianakis , who toldSpace.comhow to view the epitome at last week ’s 2018 Northeast Astronomy Forum after being inform himself by online sources .
“ I estimate those Google vans photograph every road on the satellite do n’t stop for nothing . Not even during the dark of a total solar eclipse , ” Kentrianakis wrote onFacebook .
“ Drive on this Google Map right into the darkness of the eclipse or look up in the sky and see the Sun blocked by the Moon in what was a prolong Diamond Ring just outside the limit of entireness near St. Louis . Pretty shit cracking . ”
To take a look yourself – without risking permanentretinal burnsfrom eschewing protective eyewear – just cruise the route between 2000 and 2048 onMcKelvey Hill Drive , area codification 63043 . Along the way , you toggle to the side to see transfixed locals or even trash upwards to see the obscured Sun ( though woefully , the glow halo is too overexposed to make out clear ) .
Officially declared by NASA to be themost consider solar eclipsein history , last summer ’s event was the first total eclipse to pass over the US since 1978 , and the first to cross the entirety of the 48 conterminous states since 1918 . Those fortunate enough to be within a narrow stripe that swept diagonally across the area were treated to the tidy sum of the Moon perfectly pose in front of the Sun for just under three minutes , though people in other region could still enjoy a thrilling , yet slightly off - center blocking .
And before you set out to worry too much about how the driver missed an experience of a lifespan , take a tight facial expression at the images assume as you advance up the road to the north toward higher address numbers . At 2046 McKelvey Hill Drive , the sky is still dark , with the eclipse in full swing , yet just one “ click ” frontward to 2048 reveals a burnished , normal - looking sunny solar day – anticipate evidence that whoever was behind the cycle root for over for a few arcminute .
