What will the solar eclipse look like in the Triangle? This simulator will show you

A university and Google have partnered to create a tool to help people find out what to expect from the total solar eclipse this month.

The Eclipse Megamovie 2017 is a project to show people across the country how the total solar eclipse will look in their location.

Type in your location in the simulator and watch the progression of the total solar eclipse as it will appear in your area.

The simulator is part of a project by the Multiverse Team at the University of California at Berkeley and the Making & Science Team at Google. The “citizen science project” will gather photo and data from the eclipse from more than 1,000 volunteer photographers and amateur astronomers and others and use the photos and other media to create “an expanded and continuous view of the total eclipse as it crosses the United States.”

You can learn how to participate at eclipsemega.movie.

The site also includes safety tips and other resources for the eclipse.

Eclipse viewing glasses are necessary to look directly at the eclipse while the sun is partly covered. During the two-minute “totality,” when the sun is completely blocked, it is safe to take the glasses off – but most of North Carolina, including the Triangle, is not in the path of totality.

The total solar eclipse is the first to cross the entire continental U.S. since 1918, but there is only a narrow strip across the country where the totality of the eclipse will be visible just after 2:30 p.m.

To use the free simulator, go to www.eclipsemega.movie/simulator.

This story was originally published August 8, 2017 at 6:04 PM with the headline "What will the solar eclipse look like in the Triangle? This simulator will show you."