Dallas Mom Asks If Aug. 21, 2017, Solar Eclipse Can Be Rescheduled To Non-School Date

DALLAS, TX — Untold millions are poised for the Aug. 21 eclipse of the sun on Aug. 21 (sorry, Texas, it'll only be partial from our horizon), but the date — when many kids gear up for the first day of school — is inconvenient for one mom.

"Most kids go back to school that day," the mom wrote the Perot Museum in Dallas that's hosting a solar eclipse party. "Can it be done on the weekend?"

The answer is no. The date of the solar eclipse cannot be postponed for another day.

It has to do with the orbit of the moon as it passes between the sun and Earth, casting a shadow unto our planet. So again, no: It's not possible to change the date of a solar eclipse, as inconvenient as it might be for our personal schedules.

Related story: Sorry, Texas: Aug. 21, 2017, Total Solar Eclipse Will Only Be Partial In The Lone Star State

The harried mother was no doubt chastened by this immutable truth. Still, other parents were eager to chime in largely with the full potency of snark and ridicule. We've chosen not to name the mom because we like to think we're nice at Patch, and don't wish to pile on.

• "The solar eclipse is only one day, Monday August 21st," Sofia Ava Zotz offered helpfully. "They can't reschedule."
• "Holy cow, you must be joking," wrote Anniken Thomsen Tvervag. "Rescheduling the sun?" (For full effect, she added two of those smiley face icons depicting uproarious laughter.)
• "So funny!!!!!" exclamation-mark-happy Jill Kaiser Adams observed. "Hoping this is a joke. If not, please never consider homeschooling."
• "Too late to reschedule," Dennis Evans asserted with palpable authority. "Any changes in eclipse dates must be done at least 90 days prior to event."
• Corey Schjoth found comparison: "Sarah Palin, is that you?"
• Raymond Kwong pulled out his best Neil deGrasse Tyson impression with a scientifically informed response. "Reply from the sun and the moon: Sure, we can reschedule it to a Saturday. Dec. 4, 2021. Can you please kindly ask your kids' school to organize a field trip to Antarctica? Or would it work better if we reschedule this to July 22, 2028, with a field trip to Down Under instead?"

At this point, it should be noted that the querying mom took it all in good humor or, possibly, betrayed her joshing posture in having posted the question. "This guy did his research," she opined in reply to Kwong's thoughtful post.

Moving celestial orbs is not an unoriginal idea. In "It's a Wonderful Life," the character of George Bailey offered to lasso the moon for the girl he was courting. "What is it you want, Mary?" he asks. "What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down!"

Naturally, this was youthful hyperbole inspired by amorous stirrings. Just in case, though: No, one cannot lasso the moon and pull it down, regardless of the rope's strength and length.

In another love-inspired bit of orb manipulation, a grief-stricken Superman (as portrayed by the late Christopher Reeve), mourning the death of Lois Lane, managed to reverse the Earth's rotation by flying around the planet — turning back time in the process — to bring the object of his affection back to life.

As grand a romantic gesture as this was, that too is a scientific impossibility. If you believe this to be plausible, NerdSync disabuses you of that notion in a science-based video rich with exhaustive (and exhausting) detail. Even if it were possible, the whole reversing-the-Earth's-rotation thing would create a planetary calamity that would defeat the entire purpose of trying to revive Lois Lane.

It's too science-laden to get into here; just watch the video:

Speaking of people not grasping the concept, there's a guy on YouTube who believes the Earth is flat. "People who know me personally know that I am not a fool," the man, posing with a globe, asserts while ticking off (for inexplicable reasons) his legal expertise as an attorney and prowess at math.

He's very sincere, aiding his explanation with a model airplane in simulating flight across the globe to explain his theory. But again, it's too much to get into here. If you find his theory of any interest, click the video below.

"Don't mock," the guy instructs at his presentation's end. "I'm not a fool."

He's not alone in his beliefs. There's an organization called the Flat Earth Society that refutes the world's roundness as well. They also believe that gravity is a hoax. They have a Twitter account, and are not afraid to use it.

Indeed, there's much we don't know about the universe. The truth is out there, but we'll go out on a limb in saying it does not involve the rescheduling of solar eclipses, reversing the Earth's rotation or proving the perceived flatness of the Earth.

>>> Photo via NASA