Watch a total eclipse on the Web

You'll need the video viewing software required by whatever Web site you're looking at, whether that's the Windows Media Player, QuickTime, RealPlayer or VideoLAN — so get your downloads early. You'll need some patience, because it's a given that at least some of the Webcams won't be working as early or as smoothly as the organizers hope. And you'll also need to know exactly when to look where — so here's a quick rundown of Web sites and broadcast times, all expressed in Eastern Time:

3:30 a.m. ET: The eclipse shadow touches down in Brazil for just a minute of totality, from 3:35 to 3:36 a.m. Prospects for Webcasting are unclear, but you can check EclipseTotal as well as Manual Digital. Both sites are in Portuguese.

3:30 a.m. ET: The University of Cape Coast in Ghana begins its eclipse coverage, leading up to totality from 4:07 to 4:11 a.m. The Webcast will be simulcast via U.S.-based servers at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.

4 a.m. ET: Japanese eclipse-watchers begin a Webcast on Live-Eclipse.org that will focus on the Wau Namus caldera in Libya at 5:13 a.m., Sallum in Egypt at 5:38 a.m. and Antalya in Turkey at 5:53 a.m. The Webcast ends at 6:30 a.m.

4:20 a.m. ET: The University of Barcelona starts its Webcast from Sallum, Egypt, climaxing at 5:38 a.m. with four minutes of totality from Sallum, Egypt. The Webcast also will include coverage of the partial eclipse as seen from Barcelona, Spain.

4:30ish a.m. ET: Olivier Staiger (a.k.a. Klipsi) should be reporting in from Sallum, with 5:38 as the peak time. "Hope to do a live webcast," he reports in a Web posting, "but maybe not successful, will depend on weather,  logistics, weather, technical details, weather, GPRS connection, weather, server bandwidth and the weather, etc. etc. etc."

4:30-5 a.m. ET: The EclipseLive team members, including professors from Appalachian State University and Palm Beach Community College, begin their broadcast from the shores of the Mediterranean at Side, Turkey, during this time frame. Totality begins at 5:55 a.m. Later in the day, the teachers will be conducting online closed-circuit lessons for kids at Florida and North Carolina schools.

4:30 a.m.: The Exploratorium/NASA team starts up a video feed from four different telescopes, without audio. The telescope feed ends at 7:30 a.m. ET as the eclipse gives way to full sun.

4:37 a.m. ET: The University of North Dakota starts up its Webcast from Antalya in Turkey, with four minutes of totality beginning at 5:53 a.m. The North Dakota team is also offering a chatroom and audio conversations, but make sure you download the software well in advance.

5 a.m.-6:15 a.m.: The big Exploratorium/NASA show gets under way at Side, with Exploratorium senior scientist Paul Doherty and NASA’s Isabel Hawkins as hosts. Totality comes at 5:55 a.m., and the show winds up at 6:15 a.m.

While you're waiting for the real-time views, you can check out a couple of Web-based animations that show you what to expect. SpaceWeather.com offers an animated map from Larry Koehn, showing what the sun will look like at various times in various places, as well as a simulation of what the international space station will see (WMV file).

Astronomer Andrew Sinclair has put together an excellent series of eclipse animations, including a classic that graphically shows why so many people will see a partial eclipse and so few will see a total eclipse — unless, of course, you count the Internet.

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