Now you see it... In about a minute you'll see it again.

August 1st will bring a total solar eclipse.  Sure this happens every so often, sure we've all seen pictures (not many of us can be in Russia, Canada, and China to check out this bad boy), but do you understand how fortunate we are to witness an event like this?  The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun.  And by a huge coincidence it is also 400 times closer to us, making the Moon and Sun appear the same size in our sky.

During this time of totality, the sun's solar corona becomes visible.

I hear it's a sight to behold, and as a citizen of this planet, I would be remiss if I didn't try to at least see this thing in person at least once in my life.  Here's hoping to catch the next one.