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Payouts as of October 7 2015 |
Overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 2487 |
Former prizes odds January 19 2014 October 3 2015 |
Overall odds of winning were 1 in 3185 |
Odds of winning 0 1 prize are 1 3832 instead of 1 26 as there is the possibility of also matching at least one white ball |
All nonjackpot prizes are fixed amounts except in California they may be reduced and paid on a parimutuel basis with each member paying differing amounts for the same prize tier if the liability exceeds the funds in the prize pool for any game member |
Jackpot winners have the option of receiving their prize in cash in two installments one from the winning jurisdiction then the combined funds from the other members or as a graduated annuity paid in 30 yearly installments Each annuity payment is 5 higher than in the previous year to adjust for inflation |
The advertised estimated jackpot represents the total payments that would be paid to jackpot winner s should they accept the annuity option This estimate is based on the funds accumulated in the jackpot pool rolled over from prior drawings expected sales for the next drawing and market interest rates for the securities that would be used to fund the annuity The estimated jackpot usually is 325 of the nonPower Play revenue of each base 1 play submitted by game members to accumulate into a prize pool to fund the jackpot If the jackpot is not won in a particular drawing the prize pool carries over to the next drawing accumulating until there is a jackpot winner This prize pool is the cash that is paid to a jackpot winner if they choose cash If the winner chooses the annuity current market rates are used to calculate the graduated payment schedule and the initial installment is paid The remaining funds in the prize pool are invested to generate the income required to fund the remaining installments If there are multiple jackpot winners for a drawing the jackpot prize pool is divided equally for all such plays |
MUSL and its members accept all investment risk and are contractually obligated and liable to the winner to make all scheduled payments to annuity winners If a jackpot ticket is not claimed the funds in the prize pool are returned to members in proportion to the amount they contributed to the prize pool The members have different rules regulating how unclaimed funds are used |
When the Powerball jackpot is won the next jackpot is guaranteed to be 40 million annuity If a jackpot is not won the minimum rollover is 10 million The cash in the jackpot pool is guaranteed to be the current value of the annuity If revenue from ticket sales falls below expectations game members must contribute additional funds to the jackpot pool to cover the shortage the most likely scenario where this can occur is if the jackpot is won in consecutive drawings |
A winning ticket must be claimed in the jurisdiction in which it was purchased regardless of residence The minimum age to play Powerball is 18 except in Nebraska 19 and Arizona Iowa and Louisiana 21 |
Generally Powerball players do not have to choose cash or annuity unless they win a jackpot then they usually have 60 days to choose Exceptions include Florida and Missouri the 60 day clock starts with the drawing so a jackpot winner who wishes to take the cash option needs to make immediate plans to claim their prize New Jersey and Texas require the cash annuity choice to be made when playing in New Jersey an annuity ticket can be changed to cash after winning while in Texas the choice is binding when the cash option was introduced in 1997 all Powerball players had to make the choice when playing This regulation was phased out by 1999 All Powerball prizes must be claimed within a period ranging from 90 days to a year depending on where the ticket was bought |
Powerball winnings in California and Pennsylvania are subject to Federal income tax only There is no state income tax in Florida South Dakota Texas Washington and Wyoming and only on interest and dividends in Tennessee and New Hampshire Winnings from tickets purchased outside of one s home state may be subject to the income tax laws of both states with possible credit based on the two jurisdictions |
Unlike the jackpot pool other prizes are the responsibility and liability of each participating lottery All revenue for Powerball ticket sales not used for jackpots is retained by each member none of this revenue is shared with other lotteries Members are liable only for the payment of secondary prizes sold there |
Since the secondary prizes are defined in fixed amounts except in California if the liability for a given prize level exceed the funds in the prize pool for that level the amount of the prize may be reduced and the prize pool be distributed on a parimutuel basis and result in a prize lower than the fixed amounts given in the prize tables Because the secondary prize pools are calculated independently it is possible lower tier prizes will differ among the game members |
Because the quoted jackpot amount is an annuity of 30 graduated annual payments its cash value relative to the annuity fluctuates The actual ratio depends on projected interest rates and other factors MUSL starts with the cash value built from a percentage of sales and then calculates the advertised jackpot amount from that value based on the average costs of the three best securities bids |
On August 23 2017 the owner of a Powerball ticket sold in Chicopee Massachusetts won more than 750 million one of the largest prizes in the lottery s history |
On January 13 2016 the world s largest lottery jackpot an annuity of approximately 1586 billion was split among three Powerball tickets in Chino Hills California Melbourne Beach Florida and Munford Tennessee each worth 5288 million Since there is no income tax in Florida or Tennessee and California does not tax lottery winnings the cash option after Federal withholdings is 1872 million each |
On May 18 2013 the world s largest one ticket jackpot an annuity of approximately 5905 million 607 million today was won by a Powerball ticket sold in Zephyrhills Florida On June 5 Florida Lottery officials announced the winner Gloria C MacKenzie 84 who purchased the quick pick ticket at a Publix supermarket MacKenzie chose the cash option of approximately 3708 million before Federal withholding Florida does not have a state income tax |
Other winners in excess of 250 million On December 25 2002 Jack Whittaker president of a construction firm in Putnam County West Virginia won 3149 million 419 million today then a new record for a single ticket in an American lottery Whittaker chose the cash option of 170 million receiving approximately 83 million after West Virginia and Federal withholdings |
On October 19 2005 the West family of Jacksonville Oregon won 340 million 417 million today The Wests chose the cash payout of 1644 million before withholdings smaller than Whittaker s cash payout in 2002 due to a then recent change in the annuity structure |
A jackpot of 365 million 434 million today was won on February 18 2006 by one ticket in Nebraska It was shared by eight people who worked at a meatpacking plant The group chose the cash option of approximately 1773 million before withholdings |
On August 25 2007 a jackpot worth 314 million 363 million today was won by a retired auto worker from Ohio that ticket was bought in Richmond Indiana a community that had previously sold a jackpot winning ticket of over 200 million |
In November 2011 three Greenwich Connecticut financial executives shared a jackpot of 2542 million 271 million today the largest prize on a Connecticut bought ticket Choosing the cash option the men split nearly 104 million after withholdings The jackpot at the time was the 12th largest in Powerball history |
The Powerball drawing on March 30 2005 produced 110 second prize winners The total payout to these winners was 194 million with 89 winners receiving 100000 each while the other 21 winners received 500000 each as they were Power Play selections |
MUSL officials initially suspected fraud or a reporting error However all 110 winners had played numbers from fortune cookies made by Wonton Food Inc of Long Island City New York The factory had printed the numbers 22 28 32 33 39 40 on thousands of fortunes The 40 in the fortune did not match the Powerball number 42 None of the employees of Wonton Food played those numbers at the time the closest game member was Connecticut Since the ticket holders had won as result of a coincidence rather than foul play the payouts were made |
Had the fortune cookie given 42 as the Powerball number these winners would have shared the 25 million jackpot each 227272 annuity or 122727 cash before withholdings The fortune on the inspiring cookie read All the preparation you ve done will finally be paying off |
In 2006 WMS Gaming released a range of slot machines under the Powerball brand name In 2007 the Oregon Lottery released a Windows Sidebar gadget that displays the winning numbers for Powerball in real time The gadget also provides large jackpot announcements |
The New York Lottery introduced a Powerball scratchcard in 2010 Five winning numbers plus a powerball were printed across the top of the card with 12 opportunities to match Matching the winning numbers or the powerball won The top prize was 1 million annuity unlike actual Powerball there was no cash option for the top prize |
The solar eclipse of August 21 2017 dubbed The Great American Eclipse by the media was a total solar eclipse visible within a band across the entire contiguous United States passing from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts As a partial solar eclipse it was visible on land from Nunavut in northern Canada to as far south as northern South America In northwestern Europe and Africa it was partially visible in the late evening In Asia it was visible only at the eastern extremity the Chukchi Peninsula |
Prior to this event no solar eclipse had been visible across the entire contiguous United States since June 8 1918 not since the February 1979 eclipse had a total eclipse been visible from anywhere in the mainland United States The path of totality touched 14 states and the rest of the US had a partial eclipse The area of the path of totality was about 16 percent of the area of the United States with most of this area over the ocean not land The event s shadow began to cover land on the Oregon coast as a partial eclipse at 4 05 pm UTC 9 05 am PDT with the total eclipse beginning there at 5 16 pm UTC 10 16 am PDT the total eclipse s land coverage ended along the South Carolina coast at about 6 44 pm UTC 2 44 pm EDT Visibility as a partial eclipse in Honolulu Hawaii began with sunrise at 4 20 pm UTC 6 20 am HST and ended by 5 25 pm UTC 7 25 am HST |
This total solar eclipse marked the first such event in the smartphone and social media era in America Information personal communication and photography were widely available as never before capturing popular attention and enhancing the social experience |
Marriage proposals took place coinciding with the eclipse and at least one wedding was also planned and took place to coincide with the eclipse Logistical problems were expected with the influx of visitors especially for smaller communities The sale of counterfeit eclipse glasses was also anticipated to be a hazard for eye injuries |
Future total solar eclipses will cross the United States in April 2024 12 states and August 2045 10 states and annular solar eclipses wherein the Moon appears smaller than the Sun will occur in October 2023 9 states and June 2048 9 states |
The total eclipse had a magnitude of 10306 and was visible within a narrow corridor 70 miles 110 km wide crossing fourteen of the contiguous United States Oregon Idaho Montana Wyoming Nebraska Kansas Iowa Missouri Illinois Kentucky Tennessee Georgia North Carolina and South Carolina It was first seen from land in the US shortly after 10 15 am PDT 17 15 UTC at Oregon s Pacific coast and then it progressed eastward through Salem Oregon Idaho Falls Idaho Casper Wyoming Lincoln Nebraska Kansas City Missouri St Louis Missouri Hopkinsville Kentucky Nashville Tennessee Columbia South Carolina about 2 41 pm and finally Charleston South Carolina A partial eclipse was seen for a greater time period beginning shortly after 9 00 am PDT along the Pacific Coast of Oregon Weather forecasts predicted clear skies in Western US and some Eastern states but clouds in the Midwest and East Coast |
The longest ground duration of totality was 2 minutes 416 seconds at about 37 35 0 N 89 7 0 W 3758333 N 8911667 W 3758333 8911667 in Giant City State Park just south of Carbondale Illinois and the greatest extent width was at 36 58 0 N 87 40 18 W 3696667 N 8767167 W 3696667 8767167 near the village of Cerulean Kentucky located in between Hopkinsville and Princeton This was the first total solar eclipse visible from the Southeastern United States since the solar eclipse of March 7 1970 Two NASA WB 57F flew above the clouds prolonging the observation time spent in the umbra A partial solar eclipse was seen from the much broader path of the Moon s penumbra including all of North America particularly areas just south of the totality pass where the eclipse lasted about 3 5 hours northern South America Western Europe and some of Africa and north east Asia |
At one location in Wyoming a small group of astronomers used telescopic lenses to photograph the sun as it was in partial eclipse while the ISS was also seen to briefly transit the sun |
During the eclipse for a long span of its path of totality several bright stars and four planets were visible The star system Regulus was visible slightly to the west of the Sun Mars was 8 degrees to the right and Venus 34 degrees right Mercury was 10 degrees left and Jupiter 51 degrees left |
This was the first total solar eclipse visible from the United States since that of July 11 1991 which was seen only from part of Hawaii and the first visible from the contiguous United States since 1979 An eclipse of comparable length up to 3 minutes 8 seconds with the longest eclipse being 6 minutes and 54 seconds occurred over the contiguous United States on March 7 1970 along the southern portions of the Eastern Seaboard from Florida to Virginia |
The path of totality of the solar eclipse of February 26 1979 crossed only the states of Washington Oregon Idaho Montana and North Dakota Many enthusiasts traveled to the Pacific Northwest to view the eclipse since it would be the last chance to view such an eclipse in the contiguous United States for almost four decades |
Some American scientists and interested amateurs who wanted to experience a total eclipse participated in a four day Atlantic Ocean cruise to view the solar eclipse of July 10 1972 as it passed near Nova Scotia This is referenced in the Carly Simon hit song You re So Vain in the lyric Then you flew your Lear Jet up to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse of the Sun Organizers of the cruise advertised in astronomical journals and in planetarium announcements emphasizing the rarity of the event |
The August 2017 eclipse was the first with a path of totality crossing the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the US since 1918 Also its path of totality made landfall exclusively within the United States making it the first such eclipse since the country s declaration of independence in 1776 Prior to this the path of totality of the eclipse of June 13 1257 was the last to make landfall exclusively on lands currently part of the United States |
The path of the 2017 eclipse crosses with the path of the upcoming total solar eclipse of April 8 2024 with the intersection of the two paths being in southern Illinois in Makanda Township at Cedar Lake just south of Carbondale An area of about 9000 square miles including the cities of Makanda Carbondale Cape Girardeau Missouri and Paducah Kentucky will thus experience two total solar eclipses within a span of less than seven years The cities of Benton Carbondale Chester Harrisburg Marion and Metropolis in Illinois Cape Girardeau Farmington and Perryville in Missouri as well as Paducah Kentucky will also be in the path of the 2024 eclipse thereby earning the distinction of witnessing two total solar eclipses in seven years |
The solar eclipse of August 12 2045 will have a very similar path of totality over the US to the 2017 eclipse about 400 km 250 mi to the southwest also crossing the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the country however totality will be more than twice as long |
A partial eclipse was visible across the width of Canada ranging from 89 percent in Victoria British Columbia to 11 percent in Resolute Nunavut In Ottawa viewing parties were held at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum In Toronto viewing parties were held at the CNE and the Ontario Science Centre |
A partial eclipse was visible from Central America Mexico the Caribbean islands and ships and aircraft in and above the adjacent oceans as well as the northern countries of South America such as Colombia Venezuela and several others |
A partial eclipse was visible only in the Chukchi Peninsula In Anadyr the maximum obscuration was 2782 |
In northwestern Europe a partial eclipse was visible in the evening or at sunset Only those in Iceland Ireland Northern Ireland Scotland and the Portuguese Azores archipelago saw the eclipse from beginning to end in the rest of the UK Norway the Netherlands Belgium France Spain and Portugal sunset occurred before the end of the eclipse In Germany the beginning of the eclipse was visible just at sunset only in the extreme northwest of the country In all regions east of the orange line on the map the eclipse was not visible |
In some locations in West Africa and western North Africa a partial eclipse was seen just before and during sunset |
A large number of media outlets broadcast coverage of the eclipse including television and internet outlets NASA announced plans to offer streaming coverage through its NASA TV and NASA Edge outlets using cameras stationed on the ground along the path of totality along with cameras on high altitude balloons jets and coverage from the International Space Station NASA stated that never before will a celestial event be viewed by so many and explored from so many vantage points from space from the air and from the ground ABC CBS and NBC announced that they would respectively broadcast live television specials to cover the eclipse with correspondents stationed across the path of totality along with CNN Fox News Channel Science and The Weather Channel The PBS series Nova presented streaming coverage on Facebook hosted by Miles OBrien and aired a special episode chronicling the event Eclipse Over America later in the day which marked the fastest production turnaround time in Nova history |
Other institutions and services also announced plans to stream their perspectives of the eclipse including the Exploratorium in San Francisco the Elephant Sanctuary of Hohenwald Tennessee the Slooh robotic telescope app and The Virtual Telescope Project The Eclipse Ballooning Project a consortium of schools and colleges that sent 50 high altitude balloons into the sky during the eclipse to conduct experiments provided streams of footage and GPS tracking of its launches Contact with one balloon with 13000 of scientific equipment launched under the aegis of the LGF Museum of Natural History near Vale Oregon was lost at 20000 feet 6100 m Given that the balloon was believed to have burst at 100000 feet 30000 m it could have parachuted down anywhere from eastern Oregon to Caldwell Idaho most likely to Sun Valley Idaho a 1000 reward is offered for its recovery |
The National Solar Observatory organized Citizen CATE volunteers to man 60 identical telescopes and instrumentation packages along the totality path to study changes in the corona over the duration of the eclipse |
In orbit the satellites Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter the International Space Station the Solar Dynamics Observatory the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and Hinode gathered data from the eclipse |
A viewing party was held at the White House during which President Donald Trump appeared on the Truman Balcony with First Lady Melania Trump With the sun partially eclipsed President Trump looked briefly in the general direction of the sun before using solar viewing glasses |
The rapper Joey Badass boasted of watching the solar eclipse without viewing glasses considering that our ancestors ai nt have no fancy eyewear and they ai nt all go blind Unlike the US president he did not wear viewing glasses during the entire eclipse Later he complained of vision problems and had to cancel his Cleveland Chicago Toronto shows on the Everybody Tour due to unforeseen circumstances |
The eclipse generated reports of abnormal behavior in animal and plant life Some farm animals including domestic chickens came out from under their coops and began grooming usually an evening activity Horses also displayed increased whinnying running and jumping after the event Cicadas were reported to grow louder before going silent during totality Various birds were also observed flying in unusually large formations Flowers such as the Hibiscus closed their petals which typically happens at night before opening again after the solar event |
NASA reported over 90 million page views of the eclipse on its websites making it the agency s biggest online event ever beating the previous web traffic record about seven times over |
In the months leading up to the eclipse many counterfeit glasses were put up for sale Effective eclipse glasses must not only block most visible light but most UV and infrared light as well For visible light the user should only be able to see the Sun sunglint reflected off shiny metal halogen bulbs the filament in unfrosted incandescent bulbs and similarly intense sources Determining whether the glasses effectively block enough UV and infrared light requires the use of spectrophotometer which is a rather expensive piece of lab equipment |
The eye s retina lacks pain receptors and thus damage can occur without one s awareness |
The American Astronomical Society AAS said products meeting the ISO 12312 2 standard avoid risk to one s eyes and issued a list of reputable vendors of eclipse glasses The organization warned against products claiming ISO certification or even citing the same number but not tested by an accredited laboratory Another problem was counterfeits of reputable vendors products some even claiming the company s name such as with American Paper Optics which published information detailing the differences between its glasses and counterfeits |
Andrew Lund the owner of a company which produces eclipse glasses noted that not all counterfeit glasses were necessarily unsafe He stated to Quartz that the counterfeits he tested blocked the majority of harmful light spectrum concluding that the IP is getting ripped off but the good news is there are no long term harmful effects As one example the Springdale Library in metropolitan Pittsburgh Pennsylvania accidentally passed out dozens of pairs of counterfeit eclipse glasses but as of August 23 had not received any reports of eye damage |
On July 27 2017 Amazon required all eclipse viewing products sold on its website have a submission of origin and safety information and proof of an accredited ISO certification In midAugust 2017 Amazon recalled and pulled listings for eclipse viewing glasses that may not comply with industry standards and gave refunds to customers who had purchased them |
Short term damage includes solar keratitis which is similar to sunburn of the cornea Symptoms usually occur within twenty four hours and include eye pain and light sensitivity |
Long term or permanent damage includes solar retinopathy which occurs when the sun burns a hole in the retina usually at the fovea the focus of the retina Symptoms can occur as long as several weeks after the incident and can include loss of central vision and or other vision as well as eye pain and light sensitivity afterimages and changes in color vision |
Depending on the severity of damage vision problems can last for several months or be permanent |
Dr Avnish Deobhakta an ophthalmologist in New York states that If you re looking at the sun you re actually focusing intentionally the light of the sun onto the spot fovea where you want the most precise vision |
Following a total eclipse in the United Kingdom in 1999 at least 14 cases of permanent damage were confirmed |
One story of solar eclipse danger was illustrated by the case of Mr Tomososki who damaged his eyesight when viewing a 1962 eclipse leaving him with a pea sized blind spot for the rest of his life During the 2017 eclipse he warned the country to not make the mistake he did While some can recover the danger of an eclipse comes in part because the excitement can override the instinct to not look at the sun |
Officials inside and near the path of totality planned sometimes for years for the sudden influx of people Smaller towns struggled to arrange viewing sites and logistics for what could have been a tourism boom or a disaster |
In the American West illegal camping was a major concern including near cities like Jackson Hole Wyoming Idaho s Office of Emergency Management said Idaho was a prime viewing state and advised jurisdictions to prepare for service load increases nearly every hotel and motel room campground and in some cases backyards for nearly 100 miles 160 km north and south of the path of totality had been reserved several months if not years in advance The state anticipated up to 500000 visitors to join its 16 million residents |
Oregon deployed six National Guard aircraft and 150 soldiers because the influx of visitors coincided with the state s fire season Hospital staffing and supplies of blood and anti snake bite antidote were augmented along the totality line |
In Oregon there were reports of hoteliers canceling existing reservations made at the regular market rate and increasing their rate sometimes threefold or more for guests staying to view the eclipse The Oregon Department of Justice DOJ investigated various complaints and reached settlements with affected customers of at least 10 hotels in the state These settlements included refunds to the customers and fines paid to the DOJ |
Although traffic to areas within the path of totality was somewhat spread out over the days prior to the eclipse there were widespread traffic problems across the United States after the event ended Michael Zeiler an eclipse cartographer had estimated that between 185 million and 74 million people would travel to the path of the eclipse |
In Oregon an estimated one million people were expected to arrive that the Oregon National Guard was called in to help manage traffic in Madras along US 26 and US 97 Madras Municipal Airport received more than 400 mostly personal planes that queued for hours while waiting to leave after the eclipse |
Officials in Idaho where the totality path crossed the center of the state began planning for the eclipse a year in advance The state Transportation Department suspended construction projects along Interstate 15 which traverses Eastern Idaho from August 18 22 in order to have all lanes open their counterparts in neighboring Utah where many were expected to travel the 220 miles 350 km north via the highway from the Salt Lake City metropolitan area did the same On the morning of the eclipse many drivers left before dawn creating traffic volume along I 15 normally not seen until morning rush hour northbound traffic on the interstate in Box Elder County north of Salt Lake City slowed to 10 15 miles per hour 16 24 km h The Idaho State Police ISP stationed a patrol car along I 15 every 15 miles 24 km between Shelley and the Utah border |
After the eclipse traffic more than doubled along I 15 southbound with extensive traffic jams continuing for eight hours as viewers who had traveled north into the totality path from Utah returned there and to points south The ISP tweeted a picture of bumper to bumper traffic stalled on the interstate just south of Idaho Falls Motorists reported to local news outlets that it was taking them two hours to travel the 47 miles 76 km from that city to Pocatello to the south a journey that normally takes 45 minutes Others reported that it took three hours to travel from Idaho Falls to the closer city of Blackfoot 30 miles 48 km farther north of Pocatello |
In the rest of the state the impact was less severe Traffic nearly doubled on US 93 and was up 55 percent on US 20 |
For some northbound travelers on I 15 the Montana Department of Transportation had failed to make similar plans to those in Idaho scheduling a road construction project to begin on August 21 that narrowed a section of the highway to a single northbound lane near the exit to Clark Canyon Dam south of Dillon Though that stretch of highway generally has a traffic count of less than 1000 vehicles per day on the day of the eclipse there were over a thousand vehicles per hour at peak times As a result traffic backed up as far as Lima creating a delay of at least an hour for travelers heading northward Further as construction had not yet begun drivers observed cones set up but no workers present on the road While the state traditionally halts construction projects during high traffic periods a state official admitted we probably made a bad mistake here in this regard |
In Wyoming estimates were that the population of the state officially 585000 may have doubled or even tripled with traffic counts on August 21 showing 536000 more cars than the five year average for the third Monday in August a 68 percent increase One official offered an estimate of two people in every car to arrive at a one million visitor figure and others noted that one million was a conservative estimate based on a one day traffic count of limited portions of major highways There were additional arrivals by aircraft plus travelers who arrived early or stayed for additional days Two days before the eclipse traffic increased 18 percent over a five year average with an additional 131000 vehicles on the road Sunday saw an additional 217000 vehicle increase |
Following the eclipse more than 500000 vehicles traveled Wyoming roads creating large traffic jams particularly on southbound and eastbound highways Drivers reported that it took up to 10 hours to travel 160 miles 260 km into northern Colorado There was one traffic fatality and another fatality related to an off highway ATV accident but in general there were far fewer incidents and traffic citations than authorities had anticipated |
In Tennessee the Knoxville News Sentinel described the traffic problems created by the eclipse as the worst ever seen in that part of the state One backup along Interstate 75 reached 34 miles 55 km in length between Niota and the Interstate 40 interchange at Farragut A spokesman for the state s Department of Transportation allowed that the traffic jams were the worst he had seen in six and a half years on the job noting that accidents had aggravated the already heavy traffic flows attributed the I 75 congestion to Knoxville area residents heading for the totality path at Sweetwater and returning during what was the city s normal afternoon rush hour |
Before the eclipse state officials had described their traffic expectations as equivalent to that generated by the Bonnaroo Music Festival the twice aseason NASCAR Monster Energy Cup races at Bristol or the formerly held Boomsday fireworks festival Maybe they should have considered a tsunami of traffic combining all three of those heavily attended events the News Sentinel commented The Tennessee Highway Patrol made sure that e very trooper not on sick leave or military leave or preapproved leave wa s working the day of the eclipse the state DOT made sure its full complement of emergency aid HELP trucks were available as well Alert signs on the highways also warned motorists not to pull over onto the shoulders to watch the eclipse as it could increase the risk of dangerous accidents and block the path of emergency vehicles |
In North Carolina the Department of Transportation added cameras message boards and safety patrols in the counties where the total eclipse would take place as well as stopping road work The department warned that due to unprecedented traffic ordinary activities requiring driving might prove difficult and advised people to act as if there were snow |
In Kentucky particularly around the Hopkinsville area which was dubbed Eclipseville USA posteclipse traffic caused extensive delays The en masse departure of tourists via Interstate 69 as well as the Western Kentucky Parkway resulted in commute times double or even triple of normal The Hopkinsville to Lexington commute under normal circumstances lasts three and a half hours |
An eclipse causes a reduction of solar power generation where the Moon shadow covers any solar panel as do clouds |
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation predicted minor impacts and attempted to measure the impact of the 2017 eclipse In California solar power was projected to decrease by 4 6000 megawatts at 70 MW minute and then ramp up by 90 MW minute as the shadow passes CAISO s typical ramp rate is 29 megawatts per minute Around 4 GW mainly in North Carolina and Georgia were expected to be 90 percent obscured |
After the 2017 eclipse grid operators in California reported having lost 3000 3500 megawatts of utility scale solar power which was made up for by hydropower and gas reliably and as expected mimicking the usual duck curve Energy demand management was also used to mitigate the solar drop |
NV Energy prepared for the solar eclipse months in advance and collaborated with 17 western states When the eclipse began covering California with partial darkness which reduced its usual amount of solar generated electricity NV Energy sent power there Likewise when Nevada received less sunlight other west coast states supplied electricity to it During the solar eclipse the state of Nevada lost about 450 megawatts of electricity the amount used by about a quarter million typical residences |
The 2015 eclipse caused manageable solar power decreases in Europe in Germany solar power dropped from 14 GW to 7 GW of a 38 GW solar power capacity |
On June 20 2017 the United States Postal Service released the first application of thermochromic ink to postage stamps in its Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever stamp to commemorate the solar eclipse of August 21 2017 When pressed with a finger body heat turns the black circle in the center of the stamp into an image of the full moon The stamp image is a photo of the solar eclipse of March 29 2006 seen in Jalu Libya The photo was taken by retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak |
Animation showing shadow movement of event from space |
Illustration showing umbra black oval penumbra concentric shaded ovals and path of totality red |
Illustration featuring several visualizations of the event |
Short time lapse showing umbra as it moves across the clouds |
Video of the moment totality occurred in Newberry South Carolina |
Images where the sun is completely eclipsed by the moon |
Sequence starting at 9 06am totality at 10 19am and ending at 10 21am PDT as seen from Corvallis Oregon |
Totality and prominences as seen from Glenrock Wyoming |