united states in 99 years in the eclipse is a shadow of a moon to front of the sun. it lasts a middle -- minute or two. it will begin on the west coast at about one: 18 pm eastern and will end on the east coast at about four clock p.m. eastern. we will have live coverage from noonclipse starting at eastern. earlier today, we spoke with a researcher at the goddard space center in maryland emma talking about some of the science in the you can see.hat -- >> joining us is a reacher -- research specialist and scientists. host: what are you looking for today? host: what are you looking for today? guest: i'm getting my daughter and going to enjoy the beauty

of the eclipse. even though i'm a scientist guest: when you see thishere yo in the united states you'll get to join us which is special. host: walk us through the mechanics. guest: the moon will pass in front of the sun. anywhere you are in the united states you'll see a black disk from the moon moving across the disk of the sun. we'll talk about it in a bit. you wear solar glasses when looking at it. when you're in the path of totality, moving from oregon to cape lookout, south carolina, and you'll know if you're there, you probably made plans in advance if you're there. then you'll see during the total solar eclipse, the entire sun will be blocked by the moon. then you'll see basically nighttime pop up and you'll see mars and mercury and the night sky and something like a sunset effect around the horizon. for the rest of us like here in d.c. where we're doing this interview today, we'll see

basically that black disk moving across the sun. host: there's still a value even if you're not in the totality path? shawn: it will be awesome to watch so make sure you have the safety glasses and some way to watch it that won't damage your eyes or camera equipment. there's something so see no matter where you are in the 48, you'll seat partial eclipse. you don't have to drive anywhere. if you're not in the path of totality, don't hop in the car now to get there, you can do it outside your office. host: the moon passes in front of the sun all the time. what makes it different? shawn: the moon is in an angular orbit with regard to the earth's orbit around the sun and only once in 18 months or so the moon's orbit land just right to get an eclipse like this. what makes is more special is it is happening in north america. i have friend and colleagues who travel across the globe to watch these total solar eclipses but they don't have to go anywhere for this one and neither does anyone at home. you can go outside and enjoy it.

host: you referenced the glasses. why don't we talk about them now. i've seen people clamor to the internet and people go to 7-eleven for these. what makes these glasses special? shawn: we can't see each other. we have these great studio lights and can't see those. they block out almost all the light coming in. these aren't sun glasses but special solar glasses. kid put them over my regular glasses and they'll do just fine. but the sun is superbright. if you look at the sun right now before the eclipse starts, it's going to be way too bright for you to withstand it. you'll just look away right away because it otherwise will damage your eyeballs. these solar glasses will help protect your eyes against it. you can try them out now. if you have solar glasses at home, take them outside and put them on and make sure you can't see anything except the sun. if that's the case you know they're good. host: how do you know you have the right kind of brand? is there some type of identifier themselves? shawn: an i.s.o. standard

written on the inside. if you have time before the eclipse, go to our website, eclipse2017.nasa.gov and will direct you to the website with a reputable provider of the eclipse glasses. if you're unsure, the best test is you should be essentially blind when wearing them to everything except the sun and that's how to check them. host: tell us about goddard's role in this. what will they be doing? shawn: we have stuff like this, people reaching across the path of totality and doing media interviews to talk about what we are about to see. we're nasa so we're throwing everything we have at this, we have satellites around the earth and moon and sun that are watching the sun and the earth and moon during this eclipse event. just to get an awesome imagery from space. he also have all kinds of citizen science experiments and way to let people watch the eclipse from home. if you're not in the path of totality, go to nasa.gov

/eclipse testify live and watch a total solar eclipse. we're doing everything we can to share this awesome event. host: we'll talk with your chief scientist but what types of science -- what do you learn most about studying the sun but what areas of science benefit from today? shawn: one is when you look at the sun, because it's so bright it hurts your eyes, for the same reasons it damages our optical instruments we use on our spacecraft and telescopes. when the eclipse happens, the moon is actually perfect at blocking out the sun's light, even better than most of the instruments we design at nasa. you'll see very, very close to the sun. there's physics there, we just don't understand and any time there's physics you don't understand scientists get excited about getting more information out of it. that's the main science return we'll get. if people want to get involved in eclipse science, you can get a globe app from nasa and download that and there's an

n.s.f. experiment. these are about measuring the temperature and cloudiness during the eclipse. don't just report the temperature you see from the cell phone like the weather station or whatever. this is only if you have a thermometer. the other thing is n.s.f. has an experiment measuring the birds and bees and all the sound nature makes during the eclipse. some animals, especially in totality might think it's nighttime. host: if you have twitter and apps and all that, is there a way for the public to interact with you about what they'll experience? shawn: i recommend following the nasa accounts because people do a professional job getting the awesome imagery and follow me at shawn d.goldman but what comes from the official nasa accounts, follow them and see some awesome images. host: shawn does work for nasa and is at goddard space center to talk about