What:

Stamp dedication ceremony at the Triton College Cernan Earth and Space Center of the new Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever Stamp that commemorates the August 21st eclipse. The event is free and open to the public. There will be onsite sales of the stamp before and after the event. Please share the news on social media using the hashtag #EclipseStamps.

When:

Monday, August 21, 2017 | 12:15 p.m.

Where:

Triton College Cernan Earth and Space Center (west campus)
2000 5th Avenue
River Grove, IL, 60171

Who:

Mary-Rita Moore, President, Triton College
Kris McCall, Director, Cernan Earth and Space Center
Michael Young, Post Office Operations Manager, U.S. Postal Service
Tamara Riley, Officer-In-Charge, River Grove Post Office
Students and faculty from Triton College

Background:

On August 21, 2017, tens of millions of people in the United States will have an opportunity to view a total eclipse of the Sun. A total solar eclipse was last seen on the U.S. mainland in 1979, but only in the Northwest. The eclipse this summer will sweep a narrow path across the entire country—the first time this has happened since 1918. The U.S. Postal Service commemorates this rare event with a stamp celebrating the majesty of solar eclipses.

The Total Eclipse of the Sun stamp is the first U.S. stamp to use thermochromic ink, which reacts to the heat of your touch. Placing your finger over the black disc on the stamp causes the ink to change from black to clear to reveal an underlying image of the moon. The image reverts back to the black disc once it cools. The back of the stamp pane shows a map of the eclipse path. You can preserve the integrity of your Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever stamp pane with our protective sleeve designed for stamp preservation. The stamp uses a photograph taken by astrophysicist Fred Espenak of a total solar eclipse that was seen over Jalu, Libya, on March 29, 2006. Mr. Espenak also took the photograph of the full moon that is revealed by pressing upon the stamp image. The reverse side of the stamp pane shows the path across the United States of the forthcoming August 21, 2017, total solar eclipse and gives the times that it will appear in some locations.

The Total Eclipse of the Sun stamp is being issued as a Forever® stamp. This Forever® stamp will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price. Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamp. The first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony took place June 21 at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.

For more information about the Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever® stamp, visit: www.USPS.com.

The 70-mile-wide shadow path of the eclipse, known as the “path of totality,” will traverse the country diagonally, appearing first in Oregon (mid-morning local time) and exiting some 2,500 miles east and 90 minutes later off the coast of South Carolina (mid-afternoon local time). In the Chicago area, the moon will slowly start to block the sun at 11:54 a.m. It will eventually cover up to 87 percent of the sun's surface by 1:19 p.m.