There is a total eclipse of the sun that will last for 2 minutes and 27 seconds coming on August 1st. Unfortunately we won't be able to see it here - the thin path of totality will cover places like northern China to Greenland. If you happened to be in Labrador or New Brunswick you could see (not looking directly at it, of course) a sliver of the sun missing before reappearing just after sunrise. A solar eclipse happens when the moon blocks the sun - it comes between the earth and the sun. When the moon totally blocks out the sun's disk, even if for a short period of time, it is considered a total solar eclipse. Below is a link to a map from NASA that shows who will be in the "ribbon of totality" for this event, and who will see a partial eclipse.
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEplot/SEplot2001/SE2008Aug01T.GIF
The next time we'll be able to witness a total solar eclipse here in the Carolinas won't be until August 21st, 2017! (Mark your calendars) This one will last for 2 minutes and 40 seconds (the average total solar eclipse lasts around 3 minutes) The good news is that with today's technology there are several websites you can visit that will be streaming the event live. It will happen between 6 and 6:30am EDT. Listed below is a link to NASA that will give you a chance to see images of the eclipse when it happens this Friday.
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/eclipse/index.html
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