Solar Eclipse 2017

Don M.

Don M.

SF VIP
Location
central Missouri
Are you planning on trying to watch this? The full eclipse will pass about 50 miles north of us, and I am planning on trying to view it. It will pass almost directly over the Isle of Capri casino in Boonville, MO, about 1PM on Monday, August 21st, so we may spend Sunday night up there and be ready right after noon, on Monday, to start watching. I've already bought some special glasses that allow viewing without damaging the eyes....and I would strongly suggest that anyone who watches do so Only with these glasses....I bought 4 pairs on EBAY for $6, and I tested one pair out already, and they work...must have, I can still see.

Local cities/towns are already preparing for a huge influx of tourists...some are estimating that over 2 million people will be traveling to watch this....Columbia, MO., for example, is expecting between 50,000 and 75,000 people to descend on that town to view the event. The last time this occurred in this area was almost 500 years ago, and it will be that long before another passes overhead....so there will be major traffic jams in any area where this event can be seen.

I just hope it isn't cloudy on that day............
 

i thought you were not supposed to view it directly.

I remember making a pinhole device to view the eclipse from a shoe box.

Just put a pinhole in one end and it will focus the sun on the inside at the back and show the phases of the eclips.
 

jujube said:
We're going to be on a pontoon boat on a lake in South Carolina directly in the middle of the totality path. Now I'm praying for clear skies. The last time I saw a total eclipse, I was around 12. I will appreciate it more this time.
Click to expand...

Order some of these Solar Eclipse sunglasses for everyone on the boat, and maybe a couple extra. Walmart is already sold out, but they are still available on Amazon and Ebay for a couple dollars a pair...but you can bet that the prices will be going up as the event nears. These are just heavyweight paper, cut into a eyeglass frame shape, with a generous sized viewing filter, and I put on a pair, then my regular glasses over them, to keep them in place....just make sure that they are ISO certified. I took a look at the sun, and it just appeared as a bright orange orb surrounded by pitch black. The entire event should take about 2 hours, with about 2.5 minutes of total eclipse. I thought about making a video, but without some expensive filters, the sun's rays would probably fry the circuits in my camcorder or camera...but I'm sure the news will be filled with replays of the event.
 
drifter said:
Happy viewing. Will I be able to see it in Central Oklahoma?
Click to expand...

Probably not...the effects of the eclipse may not be noticeable in OK. Missouri will probably have more people watching than most anyplace else, as it will pass just North of Kansas City, and just South of St. Louis. The central part of the State, Boonville, Columbia, and Jefferson City, will offer some of the best points to see it. Here is a NASA animation of where it will occur as it passes across the U.S.

https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4515
 
There will be hundreds of Television cameras scattered about in the region of totality.

Many will be Network feeds, which means everyone will get to see it without travelling from their homes!

Just settle down with a Non-Light Beer and some Cashews and watch Nature at work, from First Contact to 4th Contact!

HDH
 
Yup, If the day turns out to be cloudy, TV may be the only/best way to view this. However, we are still adventurous enough that if we can see/do something in person, rather than just sitting on the couch, we do it.
 
HiDesertHal said:
There will be hundreds of Television cameras scattered about in the region of totality.

Many will be Network feeds, which means everyone will get to see it without travelling from their homes!

Just settle down with a Non-Light Beer and some Cashews and watch Nature at work, from First Contact to 4th Contact!

HDH
Click to expand...
That's how I plan to watch but with some Bailey's instead of the beer!!
 
Camper6 said:
I have been through a total eclipse. Really nothing to write home about.

It just gets dark but not totally dark. A kind of a weird dark.
Click to expand...

I found this to be true also. It's nothing dramatic, the day just turns cloudy. You can't look at the sun for fear of harming your eyes. The photos you see of solar total eclipses are much more impressive. I'll wait for those.
 
We were discussing this last night when kids and grandkids were over. People going stark raving nuts. Local television channel weathermen are spending almost the entire segments talking about the eclipse. Some schools in the area are even cancelling school for that day so kids can watch!!??? Why not just take them outside for the less than 3 minutes??? A granddaughter's elementary school has provided special glasses for the entire school and do plan on taking the kids out to the playground during that time. NASA is flying someone in to a town just north of us to give a presentation before and during the event.

I understand the rarity of a total eclipse. Just seems like a huge buildup to an event that may even be rendered unwatchable due to cloud cover. If a clear day, wonder how many we will hear about after the event who have damaged their eyesight for life.

Sheesh! Now I sound like an old grouch. Didn't mean to come off that way. It will be something most of us will not witness again in our lifetime. Enjoy!!!
 
I am going to the local museum tomorrow to buy the glasses.
If I get the glasses and the forecast is hopeful, I will head south from Wisc first thing in the morning of the eclipse. I will stop for an early lunch and then find a parking spot when it begins to get dark, or when the traffic gets bad - I should be in south-central iLL, for 2 minutes of 'total recursion' per NASA.
Then I will head for home and find some dinner along the way.
 
I'm looking forward to the event, and hoping the weather cooperates. Missouri is expecting a massive influx of visitors for the event...some estimates are saying as many as a million people may be taking to the highways here on the 21st.
We're heading to the casino the day before, and we should be less than a mile from the center of the eclipse path...and if the traffic is as bad as the predictions say, we will probably stay put until late in the day. The cities and towns in the path are making preparations for extra parking, etc., and the Highway patrol is expecting several miles of I-70 to come to a complete halt for several minutes as the event passes. I figure this will be a total zoo, but I would hate to miss a once in a lifetime event. I just hope everyone uses the proper eye protection, and that there aren't hundreds of car wrecks....luckily, we take a quiet country road to and from, so once we clear the town, it should be a good drive.
 
HiDesertHal said:
There will be hundreds of Television cameras scattered about in the region of totality.

Many will be Network feeds, which means everyone will get to see it without travelling from their homes!

Just settle down with a Non-Light Beer and some Cashews and watch Nature at work, from First Contact to 4th Contact!

HDH
Click to expand...
You should stay home and never go anywhere to see all the landmarks humans created. If you want to see the Eiffel Tower, google it and thousand of photos will appear. The great wall of China? Millions of photos of it too. You failed to see the significance of the event. People pilgrimage to the site because it is an event that does not occur very often. We have the privilege to see the solar eclipse crossing the USA, and no other country. I am traveling a thousand mile, staying in a hotel overnight, go to my planned site early in the morning, locate the GPS spot that I have chosen, hoping to beat the traffic. I am also taking picture of the eclipse not because I could do a better job than NASA and hundreds of pro astronomical photographers, but because I want to document the experience of this once in my lifetime event. Go ahead stay at home, have your beer, and watch it on TV.
 
OK, Lollypop Farm, the Humane Society here in Rochester, NY is having an eclipse viewing party "with the goats", at it seems to be the trendy thing these days, doing things in the company of goats. <shrugs> . I know we are not going to get to see the full eclipse here. I may go to hang with the goats, not sure yet. May just sit on my deck, deciding weather or not I need to apply sunscreen. I do not have a pair of funky glasses, so I may just do as others plan, and see the better full view in the comfort of my recliner, watching it on tv
 
It has been a rainy summer for us here in northern Alabama; and every time I look at the Weather Channel forecast on the iPad, it keeps saying more rain. Next Monday, we have 50% chance of thunderstorms; so it is anybody's guess whether we would be able to see the eclipse or not; but I think we are at the 80% mark of how much we could see (if we do get to see it), and we should at least see the sky getting darker, even if we can't see anything because of clouds and rain.
What really puzzles me (and maybe someone can explain this) is that we all know that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and the moon does the same thing; so why is the eclipse traveling from west to east ?
 
My son in Illinois is very close to the path of it. His sons even have the day off from school and they already have their special glasses...I'm hoping the weather cooperates for them and also that he gets some great photos to send me.

I'm also praying the youngest grandson doesn't whip off his glasses...I worry.
 
Happyflowerlady said:
What really puzzles me (and maybe someone can explain this) is that we all know that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and the moon does the same thing; so why is the eclipse traveling from west to east ?
Click to expand...

The reason why this solar eclipse will be traveling west to east is the relationship between the Earth's orbit with reference to the orbit of the Moon. If you were looking directly down at the Earth from the North Pole, the Earth's rotation would be CCW...counter clockwise...that is why the Sun rises in the East. The Earth is orbiting the Sun, while the Moon is orbiting the Earth. Since the speed of these orbits are different, the Moon appears to block out the Sun at various places on the Earth every few years. In this particular case, the "shadow of the Moon will move from West to East across the central US, for about 4 hours. According to NASA, the Moon blocks the Sun, at some particular point in the US only once every 488.3 years. It's a pretty complex mathematical equation as to exactly where and when the next eclipse will occur....but safe to say that if you were standing at some fixed point in the U.S., you would only see an eclipse once every 488+ years.
 
CeeCee said:
My son in Illinois is very close to the path of it. His sons even have the day off from school and they already have their special glasses...I'm hoping the weather cooperates for them and also that he gets some great photos to send me.
Click to expand...
I hope the weather cooperates for them too, as I'll be driving south from Wisc!
 
Don M. said:
The reason why this solar eclipse will be traveling west to east is the relationship between the Earth's orbit with reference to the orbit of the Moon. If you were looking directly down at the Earth from the North Pole, the Earth's rotation would be CCW...counter clockwise...that is why the Sun rises in the East. The Earth is orbiting the Sun, while the Moon is orbiting the Earth. Since the speed of these orbits are different, the Moon appears to block out the Sun at various places on the Earth every few years. In this particular case, the "shadow of the Moon will move from West to East across the central US, for about 4 hours. According to NASA, the Moon blocks the Sun, at some particular point in the US only once every 488.3 years. It's a pretty complex mathematical equation as to exactly where and when the next eclipse will occur....but safe to say that if you were standing at some fixed point in the U.S., you would only see an eclipse once every 488+ years.
Click to expand...
Very informative.
But you didn't include that the moon circles (orbits) the earth CCW (when 'viewed' from above the earths north pole). It is that movement that causes it's shadow to go from west to east (in the western hemisphere).
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top