Experience a Solar EclipseYou don't witness an eclipse... you LIVE it! You can literally feel the moon's ominous shadow before it arrives. The temperature drops. The wind picks up speed. The sunlight slowly fades, bathing your surroundings in an eerie twilight that produces colors with hues rarely seen in the natural world. Then it's time. Moments before totality, a wall of darkness approaches at a speed of 5,000 miles per hour – this is the moon's shadow. You feel alive. You feel in awe. You feel anxiety. So... totality! Where the sun once rose, there is a black disk, outlined by the soft pearly white glow of the corona, similar to the brightness of a full moon. Small but vibrant reddish features are found on the eastern edge of the lunar disk, contrasting sharply with the white of the corona and the black of the lunar disk. These are prominences, giant clouds of hot gas in the sun's lower atmosphere. After what seems like a brief moment, the moon continues its journey and the shadow flees away, marking the end of totality. That's when you ask yourself, "When will the next one be?" Attending a total solar eclipse is as addictive and insatiable as eating your first potato chip. It is no wonder that thousands of people from all over the world converge every year or two on a small strip of land no larger than 1% of the Earth's surface to experience this amazing phenomenon. The next total solar eclipse will occur on March 20, 2015. It will be the last visible one in Europe until the eclipse on August 12, 2026. To add scientific value to your viewing experience on that day, why not try these projects that will improve your observation skills and enjoyment of this spectacular event .Envi...... middle of paper ......and bands do not reliably appear or show similar behavior with each eclipse, even when the eclipses have similar geometric circumstances . When they appear, the shadow bands vary considerably in both width and separation, but most frequently they range between 0.75 and 2 inches in width and are separated from each other by 2 to 10 inches. Their direction of movement on the ground appears to depend on where the observer is located along the path of the eclipse. Their speed most often varies between 5 and 10 feet per second. Photography Project: Low lighting, poor contrast, and rapid movement make still photography difficult at best. Low light cameras offer a significant advantage and can be centered on the viewing screen to capture band movements for later playback and data reduction. There's only one last thing left to do. Enjoy the eclipse!! END