2017 Total Solar Eclipse in North America

[Draco1962]

My wife and I will be making the dash to a hotel Sunday in South Carolina so we can try to catch the solar eclipse Monday afternoon. Just in case anyone is interested, I came across this great tool for the various times and amount of totality one can expect depending on where you click on the map.

http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017_GoogleMapFull.html?Lat=33.36286&Lng=-80.11866&Zoom=14&LC=1

 

[hansolo77]

Anything to do with space and astronomy is right up my alley.  This is the biggest thing to happen that I've been aware of with the power to actually go see.  But, as it figures, I'm working that day.  And where I live, the best I can expect to see is only like 80%.  My brother lives in South Carolina.  He's gonna get to experience the entire thing.  Even if I had the day off, there's no way I'd be able to make it down there to see it without a car.  And I'm sure not going to buy a plane ticket.  It just sucks.  Maybe the next one (40 years did the say?) I'll be able to go see. 

[Draco1962]

Try April 8, 2024...

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2024-april-8

Looks like Columbus OH is just outside of totality!

[hansolo77]

Wow, I thought they said it wouldn't be for another 40 years before the next visible in the USA, and that a total eclipse happens at the same spot on the earth only once every 185,000 years.  Still, 2024 isn't that far away, and I'd probably have a much better chance then.  Watch me end up living in Canada then or something.  I'm soooo close to just ditching this country.  But a lot would need to happen in the next 6-7 years.

[RIP-Felix]

15 hours ago, hansolo77 said:

Wow, I thought they said it wouldn't be for another 40 years before the next visible in the USA, and that a total eclipse happens at the same spot on the earth only once every 185,000 years.  Still, 2024 isn't that far away, and I'd probably have a much better chance then.  Watch me end up living in Canada then or something.  I'm soooo close to just ditching this country.  But a lot would need to happen in the next 6-7 years.

What they mean is a coast to coast eclipse (US selfish eclipse. You know...God winking at the good ole USA and all that blasphemous patriotic sentiment).  Yeah, you should be able to drive north a bit in 2024 to experience totality. Lucky for me, this one is right over our house! We'll get 1:46s of totality. I could drive north and get 7 seconds more, but I'm not braving the roads with millions of tourists crowding the road. I'll sacrifice those precious seconds for the convenience of staying home!

[Draco1962]

We plan to be south of centerline tomorrow,  at the Santee National Wildlife Refuge. The drive north from Jacksonville, FL wasn't too bad. Tomorrow will probably be a bit more stupid.

[Draco1962]

[RIP-Felix]

     WOW!!! I didn't expect to be moved as much as I was by this. My heart rate increased and felt that childish sense of wonder that fades as you age! Totality or bust, seriously IT'S NOT THE SAME. I took the opportunity to do some real science. The Temperature dropped exactly 4.0 degrees Fahrenheit. We experienced 1:46s of totality, 1:59s from diamond ring to diamond ring. Something I wasn't expecting was right at the edge of the diamond ring I saw flashes of light that buffeted like lens flare in Star Trek. These may have been Baily's beads, but it occurred exactly 45 seconds before totality and just for about 10 seconds, 35 seconds before the first diamond ring. The light was too bright for my eyes to focus on, but I distinctly saw blue/white flashes! Baily's beads occur because of light passing around surface features on the moon, and where there is just a sliver of the sun visible. The pictures and video I've seen of them look different, but to the naked eye (without filters) maybe they look like flashes. I'm not sure that is what I saw, but it was absolutely unexpected and awe inspiring. All the video I've seen doesn't compare to seeing it with my own eyes. The bluish white corona pulsating, the dark blue twilight sky around it, Venus clearly visible nearby, lighter blue sky on the horizon, the size of it with your own eyes is larger that it appears in photos and videos, and of course the emotional response I couldn't help. The whole neighborhood erupted in cheers and fireworks during totality. It was indescribably AMAZING!!!!! I feel blessed to have seen this in my own back yard (and to still have my eyesight...lol).

Pictures!

Spoiler

Partial, just before totality. The lens could not focus on the intense sunlight directly but a lens flare artifact shaded just enough to give me a pretty clear crescent inverse. The moon actually was traveling from upper right to bottom left, but the image was inverted by the lens artifact. It gives a cool effect I think!

This is the best still of totality I could get on my Samsung S7. My sister got a pretty good video. Here is a still from it. It shows the color of the sky better.

This one I edited to compensate for the camera's glare. This is the closest representation to what I actually saw. This is more how it looked to my eye, except far less grainy, more vibrant! Oh, Venus is behind the trees. We didn't get that, dang!

This is the picture I wish cameras could capture. This a faithful Pain.net merge with actual eclipse photograhraphy and hand corrected to produce the most realistic authentic picture of the moment I remember. This is the one I will be printing and framing. So what if I my camera didn't actually capture this image. I fixed it to look the way it should, and how I remember. That's what matters!

And now for the the money shot! VIDEO! Sorry, I don't want to create a YouTube account, so I had to use handbrake to get the clip under 26MB. Lost some fidelity, but it's pretty good.

Spoiler

Total Solar Eclipse 1.mp4

 

[Draco1962]

We are still trying to get home to Jacksonville. There was an accident on I-95 so we had to slow crawl detour and are now at Walterboro grabbing some grub.

Well worth the trip for the experience for both me and my wife. Hard to put into words what we experienced, but the childlike wonder is a good start. 

[RIP-Felix]

9 minutes ago, Draco1962 said:

We are still trying to get home to Jacksonville. There was an accident on I-95 so we had to slow crawl detour and are now at Walterboro grabbing some grub.

Well worth the trip for the experience for both me and my wife. Hard to put into words what we experienced, but the childlike wonder is a good start. 

Did you have clouds, clear sky, smoke? We lucked out with perfectly clear blue sky. Thank god we didn't have to travel. Our local thoroughfares were jammed up too.

[hansolo77]

You guys all suck.  My brother talked with me, said he saw it all the way.  Our 80% got pre-empted with clouds, and I was inside working the whole time anyway so I never even got a peek of it.  Everything Felix said about the excitement and awe is what I dream to experience.  I've been a fan of solar eclipses since I was in grade school and first learned about such things.  Our teacher goes on a yearly vacation to wherever they're happening, just so he can experience it.  There are people that DO that.  He had a home video of two of them, and it's just crazy.  I'm so green with envy of you guys that got to see it.  And I will definitely be planning for the next one.  I'll hate myself forever if I miss it.

[RIP-Felix]

1 hour ago, hansolo77 said:

You guys all suck.  My brother talked with me, said he saw it all the way.  Our 80% got pre-empted with clouds, and I was inside working the whole time anyway so I never even got a peek of it.  Everything Felix said about the excitement and awe is what I dream to experience.  I've been a fan of solar eclipses since I was in grade school and first learned about such things.  Our teacher goes on a yearly vacation to wherever they're happening, just so he can experience it.  There are people that DO that.  He had a home video of two of them, and it's just crazy.  I'm so green with envy of you guys that got to see it.  And I will definitely be planning for the next one.  I'll hate myself forever if I miss it.

Well, you'll get a chance again in 2024. Wapakaneta in 7 years my friend! 3:56s of glorious totality. Or Cleveland (3:51s) and go see a cavs game (If they can keep the playoff runs coming for the next 7 years). I have family in Rockbridge and may decide to travel out east for that one (If we go that route, maybe I'll look you up). Not sure yet. There some sights I'd like to see out east. Alternatively, I was thinking of a Mazatlan vacation. Of the two destinations, Mazatlan (4:20s of totality) would have the better chance for clear skies and we have friends that like Mazatlan, so maybe we can split the cost and go together. IDK, what Ohio's weather like in April? I couldn't justify the vacation just for the solar eclipse, but it doesn't just have to be about the eclipse, that's just the excuse that sweetens the deal!

[Adultery]

If it makes ya feel better, I was the only one in my office who couldn't watch it because of a deadline and I missed it too. Probably won't live to 2027 for the return trip. 

[tthurman]

We got 99.9% here in KnoxVegas!

I walked up to the top deck of our parking garage as it peaked, and took this facing west.  This is usually blindingly white from the weather protective seal that is glossy light grey.

It's somewhat hard to tell from this, but it is usually so intense you can't bare to be out on it.  Probably why nobody parks up there.

We had a partial similar to this back in the late 70's or early 80's, can't recall exactly, but I was mowing the lawn when that one reached peak.  The thirty minutes leading up to them is a surreal feeling, like something is very much wrong!

[Draco1962]

I would have loved to have had some pictures to represent the eclipse itself, but to do so would have cheated me of the experience of going through it. I got to see the changes in the shadows that are normally blurry and washed out due to the bright light of the sun coming into stark focus. Seeing the shadows of individual pine needles on the ground instead of a diffuse clump. Seeing the stars and brighter planets come out in the middle of the day. Hearing the morning birds begin their songs again. Crickets lured into their evening serenade in the early afternoon. Seeing nature "put the ring on it" (the diamond ring at the end of totality) was amazing! The look of awe on my wife's face as totality was at its maximum was indescribable.  All I know was that I felt it too and I reminded how thankful I am to have her in my life. Pictures and videos I can look up online. These experiences and more would have been diluted with futzing with a camera or scope. 

I had to endure a 9 hour trip home (normally 3 hours one way), but I would endure such a drive again and more to be with my wife and see such wonder!

[RIP-Felix]

Truly!

I just snapped a few pics myself and took it in as long as I could. My sister got the video, but she was only glancing down every now and again to get the eclipse back in frame. That's why the video drifts down. Between the two of us, we got some good photo/video to remember, without it intruding in on the spectacle. But yes, I reminded myself to take it in with my eyes, especially once I realized it was way different than I expected. Fastest 2 mins of my life!

[RIP-Felix]