As the 2017 Solar Eclipse came to an end, many people across the U.S. were satisfied with the breathtaking shots of the Total Solar Eclipse. On Aug. 21, 2017, the skies darkened from Washington all the way to South Carolina in the first total solar eclipse visible from Coast To Coast all across the United States in almost a century. All over the news and headlines, people talked about the beautiful view of the eclipse.

The last one that occurred that cast a shadow across such a large area was in 1918. It could be seen from coast to coast and it was also the first occurrence when scientists could measure the impact on temperature.

What is the cause of the amazing event?

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon blocks out the sunlight casting a shadow on a region of the Earth. This causes a breathtaking scene. A total solar eclipse is only visible from a small area on the planet and the people who see the total eclipse are in the center of the moon’s shadow when it hits Earth. The sky becomes very dark as if it were evening time. For a total eclipse to take place, the sun, moon and the Earth must be in direct alignment.

Besides it being a stunning view, scientists watch eclipses to study the shape and structure of the "corona" to improve our understanding of the lunar orbit. According to #NASA. They also study the big temperature drop which sometimes leads to significant weather changes.The temperature sometimes can drop almost 15 degrees during the totality of a solar eclipse.

Most of the time we get this change in temperature only from average highs and lows but during a solar eclipse, the temperature drops much more rapidly. There are cases where eclipse temperature drops have caused storms to die off due to the lack of heat. It can also make it much more dry.

Are Solar Eclipses Rare?

In actuality, total solar eclipses are not that rare as they happen every 18 months or so but usually only over a small area of land.

The thing that made this one so rare was because the area of its visibility was over 70 miles wide across the whole Northern American Continent.

When will the next one be?

The Next American Total Solar Eclipse will occur on April 8, 2024, so if you missed this one, don't worry, you will get another chance to see the breathtaking view of the ring of fire. So if you still have some of those protected eclipse glasses, go ahead and store them somewhere for the next spectacular total solar eclipse.