Eclipse warning: If you stay in Beaufort County, your view could be a total bummer, experts say

Do you want your eclipse experience to be as magical as possible? You really need to get to the path of totality, experts say.

“Being inside the umbra (the path of totality) is a completely different experience,” said Steven Rodney, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at the University of South Carolina. “It is very possible to be in the partial eclipse region and not even notice that there is anything happening at all. There is a reduction of light from the sun, but unless you are very close to the path of totality, the difference will not be easily detectable.”

That means that even though Beaufort County will experience an eclipse of roughly 98 percent of the sun, if you aren’t looking directly at it through your eclipse glasses or with a pinhole projector, you may not even notice it.

“The vast majority of the light from the sun is emitted from the photosphere - the layer of the sun that we think of as its surface,” said Rodney. “When you are in a region that gets a 98 percent partial eclipse, you still see two percent of the solar photosphere, and that is enough to keep the entire sky quite bright, and enough to continue to hide the faint solar corona.”

According to the Kansas City Star, even one percent of the sun’s surface is 10,000 times brighter than the full moon. That is why people outside the path of totality need to wear their glasses or use pinhole projectors to view the entire eclipse, whereas those in the umbra can take them off during totality.

Besides being able to remove their glasses, those in totality will be treated to a whole range of amazing effects that can only be experienced from the heart of the moon’s shadow. The classic diamond ring effect most people associate with a solar eclipse happens when sunlight passes through craters and valleys as an eclipse enters totality.

Totality is also the only place where you will be able to see the sun’s corona, the wispy outer atmosphere of the sun. You will also be able to see ripples of light on the ground from light passing around the edges of the moon, and might even be able to see stars in the middle of the afternoon. Temperatures will drop both inside and outside the path of totality, but the drops will be more pronounced within it.

There will, of course, be several broadcasts of the eclipse, both on television and online, but those simply can’t compare to being there in person according to Rodney.

“You can't get the immersive, all-encompassing visual effect of the entire sky suddenly transforming from day into night,” said Rodney. “You can't feel the sudden temperature drop. You won't get the extraordinary moment of taking your eclipse glasses off, seeing the stars appear in the darkening sky, and realizing that you are standing directly in a shadow cast by the moon.”

Luckily, the path of totality runs close to Beaufort County. The nearest place to experience it is Rantowles, only an hour from Beaufort and 90 minutes from Hilton Head Island. Even if traffic adds to those times, Rodney believes the trip is worth it.

“For most of us, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” he said. “This is a celestial event that you can directly experience, and it is a chance that you should not pass up.”

This story was originally published August 19, 2017 at 9:22 AM with the headline "Eclipse warning: If you stay in Beaufort County, your view could be a total bummer, experts say."