Let’s hope this smoke finally clears soon because we have a big deal solar eclipse on the way. We’re just outside the range of totality up here in Vancouver, but that doesn’t mean we’re not in for a show on August 21st, when the long awaited Great American Eclipse will stop much of our continent in its tracks for a couple of hours. The eclipse kicks off at 9:10am and will finish at 11:37am with the maximum coverage by the moon – travelling at 3,683km an hour – peaking at 10:21am, blocking approximately 90% of the sun’s disc.

To see the eclipse in totality, Vancouverites would have to drive down to Oregon. (It’s not a bad idea, except that it’s an idea shared by pretty much everyone from Anchorage to LA!)

At the top of the post is the closest approximation to an 90% solar eclipse we could find in gif format (I reckon it’s more like 80%). For a more exact simulation (sped up 500x) of how it will look in Vancouver, click here. For backgrounders, the Vox video above adroitly explains the amazing and rare phenomenon while video below is a BBC live report on the UK’s total eclipse back in 1999, rave and all.