By now, I'm sure you've heard all the buzz about the upcoming solar eclipse on Monday, August 21st. For the 2017 eclipse, there is a strip of land about 70 miles wide or so (called the "path of totality") that stretches from central Oregon through South Carolina. In Illinois, that path is through the bottom fourth of the state.

So, in order for those of us here in Northern Illinois to catch the "full" eclipse rather than a "partial" eclipse, we've got at least 3 hours of driving to do to get ourselves in the path of totality.

The website Eclipse2017.org is chock-full of great information about the upcoming eclipse, even featuring a list of Illinois cities and towns in the path:

Here are links to pages for all the communities we could find in Illinois that are in the eclipse path! (We are posting information for each city's page as we receive it; your patience is appreciated!!)

AkinCypressHarrisburgNew BurnsideSparta
Alto PassDe SotoHeckerNew Grand ChainSpillertown
AnnaDongolaHerodNorth CitySt. Johns
AvaDowellHerrinOakdaleSt. Libory
BalcomDu QuoinHurstOld ShawneetownSteeleville
BaldwinDupoImbsOlive BranchStolle
BelknapE Cape GirardeauJohnston CityOlmstedStonefort
BentonEast CarondeletJonesboroOrientSunfield
BluffsideEddyvilleJoppaOzarkSwanwick
BrookportEdenJunctionPercyTamaroa
BrownfieldElcoKarnakPinckneyvilleTamms
BucknerEldoradoKaskaskiaPittsburgThebes
BuncombeElizabethtownLedfordPomonaThompsonville
BushElkvilleLenzburgPrairie du RocherTilden
CahokiaEllis GroveLick CreekPulaskiTunnel Hill
CambriaEnergyMaeystownPyattsUllin
Campbell HillEqualityMakandaRaleighValier
CarbondaleEvansvilleMarionRed BudValmeyer
Carrier MillsFayettevilleMarissaReevesvilleVergennes
CartervilleFloravilleMcCormickRidgwayVienna
Cave-in-RockFreeburgMetropolisRoachtownWare
ChesterFreeman SpurMill CreekRobbsWasson
ChristopherFultsMiller CityRockwoodWaterloo
CobdenGalatiaMillstadtRosiclareWest City
ColpGolcondaMitchellsvilleRoyaltonWest Frankfort
ColumbiaGorevilleMound CityRumaWestview
CoultervilleGorhamMoundsSesserWhite Ash
CrainvilleGrand TowerMuddyShawneetownWhiteash
Creal SpringsHamletsburgMurphysboroSimpsonWillisville
CutlerHanafordNew AthensSmithtonZeigler

One of the most frequent questions they've gotten is whether or not those of us who don't live in the path of totality will actually see anything cool. Here's their response:

NO!!! You have to be IN the path of totality, or all you'll see (with your solar viewers, of course) is a partial eclipse! Those are pretty common, and are absolutely nothing to see, compared with the beauty of totality. If you get nothing from this at all, please get this: you MUST be IN the path of totality to experience the glory of a total eclipse! If where you are is not in the path of totality, then move yourself into it on eclipse day, and you will come away understanding what we were talking about! Miss it, and you'll miss everything; you'll have no idea what all the people who WERE in the path are raving about the day after, and you will have missed it! The pictures you'll see in the newspaper and on TV will be NOTHING compared to the experience of having been there! Do NOT miss out!

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