Hotels are booked, solar eclipse glasses are selling out and the U.S. Department of Transportation has warned drivers of additional traffic on Aug. 21. To say there's a lot of excitement over the total solar eclipse is an understatement.
The Transportation Department says about 200 million people live within a day's drive to a prime total solar eclipse viewing spot.
But why is this such a big deal, and why are people going out of their way to see it? Those are just some of the questions we asked Phil Plait, aka the "Bad Astronomer."
Get a deeper understanding of the stories that matter with Newsy's "The Why" — weekdays 7-9 p.m. ET.
