Eclipse mania

[oldcarnut]

Who else here lives in the totality zone and things are going crazy with their area.  Gas is getting a little short, no rooms anywhere, people paying 900 or more for rooms further inland or renting spots in a field if they have a tent.  Others selling viewing glasses that were free for $10 each.  Traffic is going to be nuts towards the beach or downtown plus we have protestors shipping in to the downtown Charleston area to stir up trouble with the Confederate symbols or statues.  Keep replies about the eclipse though, the statues etc could take up its own thread.

[Charger_Fan]

The statue thing has just gotten to the point where it's completely stupid..no, moronic. Yep, good idea to try to erase the first 200+ years of our country's history! Following the same path with Germany in the 30's. . Stupid. Could expound on other similar events, but will refrain.
Gotta love the progressive agenda & how it never stops, no matter what.

Anyway...

The eclipse thing? Stupid too. It's a big shadow mid-day, big woop...while it's cool to see, it's really no big deal to me. Not getting sucked into the breathless hype the media is forecasting, I'll watch the 92%~ish percent version from my vantage point at work & spare myself of being stuck in a friggin' I-15 quagmire.  

[Mytur Binsdirti]

[Laowho]

Sumthin iconic about a total eclipse. We're astronomy enthusiasts--even built a 12.5" binocular telescope--and we couldn't care less. But hey, it's the little things in life, the ride there, dog peeing on the samiches and such. 

[ws23rt]

Sumthin iconic about a total eclipse. We're astronomy enthusiasts--even built a 12.5" binocular telescope--and we couldn't care less. But hey, it's the little things in life, the ride there, dog peeing on the samiches and such.  

I like this post. The event is kinda cool because it happens so rarely. Otherwise, It's a non-event.
It even made me look up yesterday on the way to work. --In the early morning I witnessed a partial eclipse of the moon. Clear sky and the shadow of the earth crossing the moon was awesome. (And I had no special viewing glasses).
As for this solar eclipse and the hype?--it's a great excuse for a mini vacation for millions to get away for a time from daily food gathering and nest building to enjoy life.

I had a good vantage point during the last one to pass over where I was. My spot was on a tall building in the high desert of Oregon. To see a dark shadow rush from one horizon to the other at 500+ miles per hour is IMO cooler than watching the day light blink out for a couple of minutes which is what most viewers will be looking at or be able to see.

[John_Kunkel]

............

[John_Kunkel]

Solar eclipse? Normally I'd give it a big yawn    (I've lived through nine total eclipses) but my solar-dependent electric utility is a little worried with all the air conditioner use this time of year.  

[ws23rt]

Solar eclipse? Normally I'd give it a big yawn    but my solar-dependent electric utility is a little worried with all the air conditioner use this time of year. 

Yikes--A two minute brown out coming? ---This could mean some switch throwing going on to help out the confused computers. EEK

[Charger_Fan]

I had a good vantage point during the last one to pass over where I was. My spot was on a tall building in the high desert of Oregon. To see a dark shadow rush from one horizon to the other at 500+ miles per hour is IMO cooler than watching the day light blink out for a couple of minutes which is what most viewers will be looking at or be able to see.

Your post got me thinking...it would really be fun to be in an airplane at 30,000 feet & watch the shadow cruise along the ground below.

[ws23rt]

I had a good vantage point during the last one to pass over where I was. My spot was on a tall building in the high desert of Oregon. To see a dark shadow rush from one horizon to the other at 500+ miles per hour is IMO cooler than watching the day light blink out for a couple of minutes which is what most viewers will be looking at or be able to see.

Your post got me thinking...it would really be fun to be in an airplane at 30,000 feet & watch the shadow cruise along the ground below.

It would indeed be a great vantage point to be in the sky. Most airports are booked in every way.
Another would be at a high point on the coast to see the shadow rush from the ocean followed by the light rush that follows.

[DeltaV]

Lots of people will be seeing "the dark side of the moon". Lol

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Tuesday morning...............

[ITSA426]

We came to Nebraska to see it, and catch up with some car buddies.  Forecast is mostly cloudy for tomorrow but I just overheard a group of Australians who chartered a private jet for tomorrow to get above the clouds, and another group is leaving the hotel to drive five and a half hours to get to a spot where better weather is forecast.  I'm mostly here to catch up with friends, but seeing the eclipse would be cool.

[flyinlow]

I heard there may be protests here because we are not in the zone of totality.  They are threatening to tear down statues of the Sun. 

[Mopar Nut]

 

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Put your zip code in place of one in yellow box when you open the URL below.
This is what the eclipse will look like in your town or city on Monday.



https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/science-and-health/2017/7/25/16019892/solar-eclipse-2017-interactive-map

[JB400]

30 minutes for the west coast.  I'm watching it here:

https://weather.com/photos/places/news/solar-eclipse-american-usa

[Homerr]

In Seattle we are about 200 miles north of totality zone.  We could see it through glasses, clear skies here.  Got a bit cooler, was expecting it to get a bit darker - less than a cloud passing by on a sunny day.

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Got my eclipse glasses just in the nick of time.

[4cruzin]

Kind of glad it is over . . . 

[Kern Dog]

I don't mean to piss on anyones hobby but this seemed over-hyped for what it was.

[hemigeno]

Eclipses are an amazing celestial phenomenon, but people went a little nuts.  I live about 6-7 miles north of the "path of totality" centerline.  Some hotel rooms were booked 2 years prior.  Local farmers snapped up the porta-potty rentals & divided up their hayfields into campground spaces - then sold out every one of them.  Other folks advertising a spare room in the basement for rent; one had a couple from Argentina who replied & rented their room.

Plum nuts.

I did go home at lunchtime, and the fam & I watched it from the backyard.  It was admittedly eerie, but I came away with 2 observations:

1. I expected it to get darker, quicker... it stayed relatively light (about like you were wearing a good pair of sunglasses) until the sun was almost completely obscured.  Apparently it takes 90%+ blockage to make a major difference.

2. I expected it to be darker during "totality"... it was more like late dusk/twilight, not nighttime as I had anticipated



The traffic jam of people headed out of town will probably last the rest of today.  I suppose it was cool to see, but really??


On the weird side...

>  Our doorbell rang of its own volition about 10 minutes before "totality"; we live in a rural area and no one was within 1/4 mile of our house
>  My iPhone (no filter) could not capture the corona effect during "totality" - but I later looked at the single photo I took anyway and couldn't tell what the weird "object" was above & to the left of the sun.  And NO, I'm not a "Planet X", tinfoil hat kinda guy.  Any photography guys recognize that as some effect an unsophisticated cameraphone lens will project?

[Charger_Fan]

but I later looked at the single photo I took anyway and couldn't tell what the weird "object" was above & to the left of the sun.  And NO, I'm not a "Planet X", tinfoil hat kinda guy.  Any photography guys recognize that as some effect an unsophisticated cameraphone lens will project?

My Mom was watching TV coverage & they mentioned a spot on the sun. They inspected closer & it turns out it was the space station.

It was pretty cool to watch here. We had something like 93% coverage, and like you, I expected it to be darker than it was. It just seemed a lot like a cloudy day, for how dark it got.

[Mytur Binsdirti]

[Charger_Fan]

I don't mean to piss on anyones hobby but this seemed over-hyped for what it was.

I agree, very over-hyped. Sadly, that's pretty typical these days.

One nice thing though, this morning's commute was great! I work in Salt Lake, and have a 47 mile commute each way. With so many people out of town to be in "the zone", and so many others that seemingly took the morning off work, I was actually able to set my cruise on the freeway & zip right along!