Study: We Watched the Crap Out of That Eclipse

The total solar eclipse as seen from McMinnville, Oregon. (Credit: Bud Ellison/Flickr) As you may recall, we had a solar eclipse last month. It was kind of a big deal. After almost 40 years without a total solar eclipse, the United States got pretty lucky on Aug. 21, with the moon’s shadow crisscrossing the country and at least a partial eclipse visible in all 50 states. About 12 million people lived within that “path of totality,” and 47 million were within 100 miles. But how many actually turned out to see it? Thanks to a new study from the University of Michigan we have the numbers, and they’re, uh, astronomical: Looks like some 215 million adults checked out the eclipse. That’s huge! It’s 88 percent of the adult population! It’s almost twice the size of recent Super Bowl audiences! As The New York Timespoints out, it’s also almost 30 percent ...