Total Eclipse of the Sun

[stickyvicky]

How exciting! This is the first time this has happened since 1918?
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather- ... e/70002446
Make sure to get "eclipse glasses" not sunglasses. Apparently they are just $1 from Walmart. Lots of great links for information on this site.
Looks like florida may not be the best place to see it from...

[hennar2017]

Iowa is supposed to see at least a 91% eclipse. I am excited to see how dark it will get here. Fun, fun!

[WalterB]

Saw a partial eclipse (60%?) close to sundown a few years ago, maybe four or five. Used a homemade pinhole projector to look at it. I thought about driving up to see it this time, but it would be a day and a half drive for just about a 20 minute view. If I was younger, maybe, but, oh well, maybe I can find a pair of glasses at Walmart, or make another pinhole projector. I hopefully will be home by then.

[CGYMike]

Here in Calgary the moon will cover approximately 75% of sun...not bad. But just 8 hours south of here, starting in Dubois and south toward Idaho Falls, Idaho, will be a watching area to see the eclipse in its totality. It will last for the better part of 2 minutes, and I am seriously thinking about doing a roadie to see the solar event. Imagine a shadow that simulates night time in the middle of the day? That's a pretty cool thing to witness live.

Along with that I might even mix in a trip to Devils Tower and Mount Rushmore before heading home.

I can't think of a better reason to take a road trip and see something that truly might be for me perhaps a once in a lifetime experience.

[stickyvicky]

What a beautiful picture!

[WalterB]

I've seen a total lunar eclipse (pretty cool event in itself) but never a solar. The Walmart here in Bum Fuck, Arizona is already sold out of the glasses, and I seem to remember that, for the partial eclipse in El Paso three or four years ago, was also sold out before I got there. So if you don't have glasses, get busy looking now.

Two other ways of course are the pinhole projector, and your binoculars, if you have a pair. Get your tripod, or borrow one, and some duct tape. Affix your binoculars to the tripod, aim the large end toward the sun and the small end (the end you normally look into) toward the ground. When the eclipse starts, hold a white pad of paper or cardboard below the binoculars. They will project the sun onto the white paper and you'll be able to see the sun and the eclipse as it happens.

Mike, if you do go, don't go to a city or an eclipse viewing event. As an example, there's a big eclipse viewing party in Oregon somewhere, and the city and surrounding areas are already overwhelmed with traffic. Gas stations are running out of gas, motels are totally full, and traffic anywhere is at an absolute snails pace. Drive on the freeway out in the country somewhere. Pick a nondescript exit and pull off there, and you will not have to deal with any traffic or large crowds. Then you can set up and watch at your leisure and not be bothered by a lot of BS. If you go, good luck. It looks like I won't be able to get any glasses, and Monday morning I should be on my way back to El Paso. So I'll probably just pull over somewhere out in the New Mexico desert, make a quick pinhole projector, and watch it that way. Might even take a couple of pictures.

Everyone, please remember, DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN!!!!!! If that isn't enough, try to imagine never seeing Vicky or any of the lovely VNA ladies, or any of your family or loved ones ever again. Because that is what will happen. Just be careful, read the information posted on the Internet and listen to the experts, and you'll do just fine. Happy viewing.

[viper23]

This will be my second total solar eclipse, provided I can make it to the totality line that I'm traveling to 266 miles away, traffic may still mess up my plans, we'll see.

Saw my previous one in 1970. The path of totality did a loop through S.E. NC. My dad took us down to Farmville, NC. The local restaurant was featuring Sun Drop sodas and Moon Pies.

All I can say, is that if you have a reasonable possibility of getting to a place to see this, do it! Here's a link to the NASA map: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-maps . It really incredible when the shadow finally passes over, shadow waves go sweeping by on the ground before it finally goes dark. There is twilight all around while its happening, all of the 'day' animals go to their night spots. The cows in the field next to us all moved to the east side of the pasture.

It's okay to look at the sun/moon if you are in an area of totality (look at the map), just remember to look away the second the sun reappears. During totality you'll be able to see the Sun's corona, it's extended atmosphere. You will also see the stars, probably late Winter constellations like Orion in the West. Venus should be visible in the West and I've heard that Mercury will be visible. Mercury is usually seen only just before sunrise or after sunset, when it's in the right position.

If you don't have the right eye-wear, do what Walt suggested, either a pinhole viewer or the binoculars and white board. I saw a lady on the Weather Channel, who was an astronomer, that said you could even use a cheese grater (the part with the round holes) and hold that above your whiteboard.

If you can't make this one there'll be another in 2024. That one will start in the middle of Texas and arc it way to the northeast before it's over. I'm going to that one too, if I'm still around. Good luck to all who make the trip

[CGYMike]

Yahoo!!! I am in Casper Wyoming to witness the total eclipse. It was a 2 day trip to get here mixed in with some site seeing.

Today I visited Devils Tower and Mount Rushmore before high tailing my azz over to Wyoming. I am directly on axis to enjoy a 2 minute 30 second eclipse. The hotels and motels are packed. Every truck stop is packed to the brim with people and I am writing this from a roadside turnout. Tonight will be spent in the backseat of my car.

I'm totally looking forward to tomorrow. God please let it be a cloudless day !!!

[sugerdaddy]

My God CGYMike what a great shot of the eclipse. love it.

[rokkerr]

Yahoo!!! I am in Casper Wyoming to witness the total eclipse. It was a 2 day trip to get here mixed in with some site seeing.

Today I visited Devils Tower and Mount Rushmore before high tailing my azz over to Wyoming. I am directly on axis to enjoy a 2 minute 30 second eclipse. The hotels and motels are packed. Every truck stop is packed to the brim with people and I am writing this from a roadside turnout. Tonight will be spent in the backseat of my car.

I'm totally looking forward to tomorrow. God please let it be a cloudless day !!!

Exxxotica would have been a better road trip... just sayin...

[CGYMike]

Perhaps 2 of the coolest days I have ever spent on planet earth started with a trip to every kids favourite big rock, Devil's Tower. Wayyyy cooler in person than when Richard Dreyfus was crawling around on it. It is spectacular to see in person.

Next was off to America's favourite carved boulder in the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore...pretty cool to see in person. Nuff said.

Then I ran into a herd of wild Bison in South Dakota...hello "Dances with Wolves"..very cool :)

Day 2 crescendo ended with the BEST show that Mother Nature could possibly put on, an amazing solar eclipse in the middle of Wyoming. It was by far, the most amazing spectacle I have witnessed.

Headed home now from an amazing 4 day road trip to my friends in the USA...thanks for the hospitality

[WalterB]

Mike! Great story and great pictures. But, no picture of the eclipse????

1. Did you see the UFO's?

2. Did you also see the Crazy Horse monument, which I think is being built close to Rushmore? (I could be wrong about it being close. Too tired to look it up right now lol.)

3. Did you eat any Mountain Oysters?

Really glad you could make it down and do a little touring. As it turned out, since my son needed my help, I couldn't have made it anyway. But, other than that, If I had known you were coming down, I would have driven up to meet you and hang out a bit. Next time you come down, you better let me know, if you know what's good for you.

And, again, glad it was a great trip. Those are places I have never seen, either. Sounds like you were close to The Little Big Horn, also. Put that on your schedule for your next trip. That's really a great place to see, also.

[Davest]

Exxxotica would have been a better road trip... just sayin...

Or better yet, both!

I drove 600+ miles to Indianapolis last week for the 50th GenCon (a wonderful little boardgame and RPG convention; just me and 60,000 of my closest friends) and was there Wednesday to Sunday. Had a great time hanging out with friends I don't get to see very often. The dealer hall was awesome (think of a toy store half the size of a football field).

Sunday night instead of driving back to NC, I drove south to Crossville, TN, where I had booked a cheap motel room a couple months ago. Monday morning I drove seven miles to the rest area on I-40 that I had picked out. What a great experience. It was an event crowd, so there was lots of friendly conversations and warmth going around in the hours leading up to the eclipse. One couple had driven hundreds of miles overnight because the place where they were was supposed to be cloudy and rainy Monday. I got lucky picking a great spot.

The event itself was almost a spiritual thing. We had a couple of clouds obscure the sun when it was between 25% and 60% covered, but other than that conditions were perfect. It wasn't until it was about 95% covered that you could notice any lowering of the light level. At about 98% the photosensitive street lights in the rest area came on. Even at 98% or 99% covered, the sun was still too bright to look at without eclipse glasses. Right before total coverage (and right after) I could see waves of light rippling across the pavement, it was freaky. Totality was awesome, the moon was just a featureless black disc and the corona was beautiful. I didn't try to take any pictures of the eclipse itself because I didn't have any filters for my phone and figured there would be millions of pictures out there. But I did take several pictures of the crescents on the ground, that were formed by the leaves of the trees acting like pinhole cameras during the eclipse.



The only downside to the entire trip was a huge traffic snarl in Western NC caused by an accident that turned my 6 hour trip home into an 11.5 hour trip home, and I only got in about 3 AM last night. Still, what an amazing week.

[CGYMike]

Great recollection of the event Davest. I had a similar experience with a wonderful crowd in the park where I witnessed the eclipse. It was fun and festive and a great family experience...met people from all over the world. I took a similar photograph of the light through the trees at the park where I watched the big show...quite the phenomenon. I didn't take any pictures of the actual eclipse either...I read that the 2:30 second experience is the fastest 2:30 in your life and shouldn't be wasted. It needs to be witnessed with the naked eye...they were right. I took that advise and took it all in.

The traffic leaving Casper Wyoming in the afternoon was like a crowd leaving Woodstock..crazy traffic for a couple of hours before it thinned out.

Overall it was a great experience and I'd do it all over again if I had to....oh and Walt, I did manage to stop by Crazy Horse and motored right past Little Big Horn during my round trip...just forgot to post a pic. Other great American places worth stopping by and checking out :)

I'm back home....It was a lot of driving but it was a great trip...thank you America

[WalterB]

Thanks for coming to visit, Mike. But like I said, next time hire a tour guide. I hear El Paso has a good one.

And, I agree, Davest. Great report.

[WalterB]

I almost forgot. Turns out, I have a total eclipse video, after all.

IMG_0375.MOV.wmv

(582.13 KiB) Downloaded 31 times

[hennar2017]

Oh Walt! That was a great video of the eclipse! I should make that my avatar! Was that your tongue? You should be a professional photographer. You need to do more of them!

[stickyvicky]

[WalterB]

I got that from a friend of my nephew's at his birthday dinner Monday night. Don't know if it was him or not. I was afraid to ask.

[rokkerr]

I almost forgot. Turns out, I have a total eclipse video, after all.

IMG_0375.MOV.wmv

Fuckin' Walt... I just downloaded a ball sack to my computer....