Total Solar Eclipse

[Hardtimehermit]

The big thing to think about is where you are going to stay, my wife and i made plans a few months ago and it was already getting expensive plus vacancy was the next question, sounds like you already have your trip set, good on ya! 😁 see you in Texas 😜

[Dutchman4]

9 hours ago, GotAU? said:

Buy your glasses soon- they sell out fast and unfortunately the price gouging has already started.

I was in Idaho for the 2017 eclipse and it was wonderful.  Better in person than on television for sure, everyone should see at least one in their lifetime!  So this one will be number three for us including the annular eclipse that passed through Utah a couple years ago. We are going to be west of Waco on a friend’s ranch for it- and have the week off for spring break to take our time coming home. Will be traveling through New Mexico and AZ and hopefully will have some time to use the detectors along the way home too.

I used a Baader solar filter on my lens for the three bright solar images I took leading up to totality, if you zoom close, you can see sun spots on the sun.   No filter was necessary on my camera nor to look at it directly during totality on the last photo to the left.

 

I was up in Spokane, WA for that 2017 Eclipse also.  It got quite dark and cooled off considerably.  We were in park next to a river and as soon as it started getting dark the Canadian geese' that were sunning themselves on the grass, walked to rivers edge and swam over to an island to roost for the night.  Then some minutes later when the sun came out again they came back on shore and resumed sunning.

[Compass]

My wife and I went to Bryce Canyon for the Ring-of-Fire eclipse last year and it was an amazing place to see it! For the total eclipse we are taking a cruise to view the event at sea. Hopefully, the weather cooperates!

[rvpopeye]

Smooth seas compass ! 

Must have been a sight with Bryce as a background ! 

[GB_Amateur]

If possible, be somewhere that has birds.  They go crazy when the sun sets at a time they know isn't normal.

Regarding viewing the partial (penumbral), a simple pin-hole projection shows plenty, as do the leaves of deciduous trees which act as multiple pinholes.  If you're in totality you can look directly at it (and should -- come on it's once in a lifetime!) because the dangerous (permanently damaging to the eyes) UV radiation is blocked out by the moon.  But I emphasize only during the totality (umbral) phase.

Lots of people think (unfortunately) that there is something special about an eclipse which adds dangerous radiation.  Our eyes have built in warnings when looking at a bright sun.  That keeps us from doing it.  As the sun becomes (partially) obscured the intensity drops and our eye defense mechanism is less effective.  Then there is the incentive to look even if there's a bit of discomfort.  Bottom line is that the propensity for damage is the result of human nature, not mother nature.

The path of totality crosses through the heart of Indiana so I don't even need to leave home to see it.  But I intend to have a mobility plan as Spring isn't great for clear skies around here....

Is no one planning combining some metal detecting along with their eclipse viewing?  Lots of good detecting in the USA Southwest....

[Badger-NH]

1 hour ago, rvpopeye said:

Badger

Here ? Awesome !  Good idea looking at what nobody else thinks of during an eclipse too !

The floaters that I have now are probably indicative of seeing enough of the eclipses I've been under so far anyway ..... 🙄   

Nice pics GotAU?  ! 

The direct path will track north of us but it will still be very noticeable near the coast.  

Map here. https://wgme.com/news/local/total-solar-eclipse-coming-to-maine-in-2024

[jasong]

5 hours ago, Badger-NH said:

The eclipse will be passing right over NH so it will be near total where I am. I have no interest in watching the sun and moon. For me, the spectacle is how the twilight's unique shadows affect how everything looks. The landscape and scenery where you will be observing it make a big difference.

I watched the total eclipse from my backyard in Wyoming with my mom and it'll be forever memorable to me. Similarly, we were both much less impressed by the sun/moon which we had seen photos of already than we were by the strangeness  around us.

The streetlights came on, the temperature dropped, and everything was this strange blueish twilight in daytime. The light still getting through was somehow different, diffuse, the atmosphere was very unique. It's easy to see how humans in the past were confused and awestruck by an event like that and assumed supernatural explanations.

[GotAU?]

The stupid hotel where I made reservations about a year in advance in Oregon for the 2017 eclipse canceled us and resold reservations at more than 3x what we would have paid just a month before it.  I was frantically searching for a decent place but then the week before we got a regular forest campground reservation at a hot spring in the mountains pretty near Gerry’s back yard- he probably knows it well.  Some unfortunate soul cancelled and we got in.  It was a great place with very nice people camping there- made some friends from all over the country and we will be meeting up again this time again in Texas.

[beatup]

The solar eclipse is something everyone should see I have been lucky enough to have seen five now the last one here home in Wyoming.

[rvpopeye]

Gonna be a long drive if I go north to see it in totality. Need to wait for the weather report......🧐