Editor's Note: This is the first in a five-part journey Forbes Science is taking across the solar eclipse 'path of totality.' That's the roughly 70-mile-wide band that will stretch across America – from Oregon to South Carolina on August 21st. Along that lucky strip of the continent, eclipse viewers will get a rare and brief look at the sun… in total darkness. Jack StratonPhysicist Jack Straton has almost seen a total solar eclipse. But then, just as the eclipse was nearing its ultimate moment, when the Earth's brightest star would be briefly gobbled up by the moon's dark silhouette – everything changed.

Source: Forbes July 29, 2017 23:03 UTC