Solar eclipses can be very dramatic. The sky darkens enough to see stars. The air cools noticeably. Nocturnal animals such as bats might start appearing. And in the middle of the sky is the Sun, with a crown of glowing plasma surrounding it. Take a look at this PBS video about the 2006 solar eclipse in Libya. The good stuff starts at about 8:20 into the clip. Here is another nice video about the 1991 eclipse in Mexico. Solar eclipses require that you be in the exact path of the Moon’s shadow across the Earth. It can be very embarrassing if you set up your observing site in the wrong place. Here is NASA’s website dedicated to solar eclipses. It’s the best resource for eclipse chasers. And for those of you in North America, check out this website for all of the details about the next big eclipse to cross the United States next year. I traveled to the total solar eclipse of February 26, 1979 with seven others. Click on the play button to the right of the image of us out in the snow of Montana to see the scene and listen to the audio recording of that day. by pressing play on the audio player below. But three years ago, I recorded a most entertaining video of the August 21, 2017 eclipse from Tennessee. Take it from me, observing an eclipse definitely takes planning! The image to the right shows some college students planning their eclipse trip!