Solar Eclipse 2017

Happyflowerlady said:
It is definitely getting darker here now, too, and I have been really having a great time ! I am watching it on television, and then running to look out the back window to see what is happening . I think we get around 95% totality; so it should get pretty dark here.
One of the interesting things I have been noticing on television is that the sky seems lighter at the horizons, and some places have gold and pinkish colored clouds just like you would see at sunset. I have no clue what causes this phenomenon, but it is interesting, too. Anyone know why the sky looks like a sunset, since the sun is not at the horizon, but completely overhead ?

Just as a side note, the cicadas think it is night time, they are out there chirping like crazy !
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They said on TV that the pinkish view was due to smoke in the air from wildfires, not sure what state they were talking about though. Years back when we had a lot of smoke from nearby fires, everything outside was orangy looking and darkened, much eerier than it looked today for sure.
 

Watched it on CSPAN, thorough coverage, no commercials, didn't even have to get out of my recliner.
 

I have a good mirror and I reflected the eclipse on my garden wall. didn't even need sun glasses.

The reflected image was rather small but I got the idea.

It's been kind of cloudy most of the day here so it was hard to tell if it looked any darker.

They've been going on for many, many years and I've seen several of them in my life.

Sometimes I wonder what all the excitement is about.
Watched it on TV, so saw enough. Glad it's over though; don't hafta think about it until the next one.
 
I constructed a viewing box and was able to see it pretty well.. although we only have about 87% of totality and there was some cloud cover, but I at least got to see it.. It did get noticeably cooler too.
 
Didn't get but about 50-60% effect down in SE Texas. TV coverage was good.
There is supposed to be a total eclipse down here in 2024 ... a path thru Mexico, up thru Texas and on up to Maine. ...
... now to live that long. :cool:
 
I watched it from my driveway with my telescope. I recently bought a solar filter for it. It was only about 60% coverage here, so it was just an orange ball partially covered by a black one. Still, somehow it was neat to see. Looking around, brightness was about what it is when we get smoke from local brush fires. But the sky was blue. Light coming through the Mulberry tree leaves made crescents on the wall of the house. I hope some of you got to see full totality.

Don
 
It Was Awesome!!! Right on cue, about 1:06PM, the sky went dark for about 2 minutes. We saw the sun's corona, and even a couple of stars/planets when we removed our glasses. What a Treat! It was good that we went up to Boonville yesterday, as the crowd was huge, for such a small town...one of the security guards at the casino said he heard the police estimated 30,000 people descended on that town this morning. The Kansas City area had rain so I-70 was probably a zoo with people headed for the center of the state. By 1:30, people were heading out en masse, so we stayed put for a couple of hours.
We had a nice stay at the casino hotel, free meals, watched the event, and even got back home this afternoon with a little more money than we left with. That is a Great Day. Luckily, our route home is country 2 lane roads, but when we passed over I-70, the traffic was still real heavy in both directions.
 
I think this was a great day even if you weren't in the path of totality. Every photo I saw showed happy people and great photos of the eclipse.

A nice break from all the bad news we see every day!
 
YAY!!! The weather couldn't have been better. Everyone was praying for clear skies and Mother Nature listened. We were in the exact center of the totality on a pontoon boat on a huge lake. I floated in the warm water watching the eclipse and trying to keep my cardboard glasses from disintegrating.

The totality was beyond anything I could imagine (I thought I had seen a total eclipse when I was about 12, but apparently it was just an "mostly" eclipse). I thought it would be darker but it was dark enough to be eerie and I was surprised to see how colors lost their intensity (a bright red cooler looked maroon, etc). There were nine of us on the boat and I was the only person who saw a large purple spot in the black part during totality (I'm going to have to ask my ophthalmologist about that). The corona was so beautiful it almost made me cry.

What was one of the highlights, to me, was the intense burst of light when the first tiny, tiny rim of the sun reappeared. It was like a laser.

I can't wait for the next one (2024)!
 
I would just like to add: If you have any interest in astronomy, download Stellarium. It's a beautiful planetarium program that runs on PC's, Mac's, and Linux. And it's free. You can set any time or date and it will show you exactly what's overhead. It might even whet your appetite to do some star gazing.

Don
 
Grampa Don said:
Don M. --- That's great! I wish I could have been there. You probably saw Mars and Venus. Both were higher than the sun, Mars closest.Don
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I'm not sure of which planets/stars I saw, but they did show up prominently. I only kept the solar glasses off for about a minute, but that minute was quite spectacular with the sky turning so dark and the temperature dropping several degrees, etc. The corona, and the colors in the sky, especially near the horizon, were sights I'll always remember. We only live about 40 miles from where the epicenter of this eclipse occurred, so I was sure wanting to see it...as it will be the only one I would get the opportunity to see. Luckily, the weather cooperated...there was heavy cloud cover in the early morning, but by about 11 the sky cleared nicely, and by noon there was almost no cloud cover.
 
Yup, that picture was very true. In the seconds, before and after the full eclipse, there were some really spectacular beams of light shooting from the edges of the sun. Then, during the full eclipse, the corona looked like beams of white hot gasses shooting great distances from the sun.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Thanks, Don M. It's one of those things, like Niagara Falls. You see pics of it, but you have to be there to experience it.Thanks
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Yes, there is a difference between just seeing pictures or videos, and actually experiencing such an event. This experience, and the reactions of those around us, will stay in my mind for a long time. Yesterday was a really nice "party" where everyone was fixed on the event, and enjoying a once in a lifetime experience together. I watched it again on the TV last night, but it just wasn't the same.
 
We watched it from my son's driveway in Clarksville Tennessee. I took these during the total phase:

Eclipse1.jpgEclipse2.jpgEclipse3.jpgEclipse4.jpg
 
Drove 820 miles to my location: 36.7144N 87.0974W. The total solar eclipse path, sun, moon, and the earth were in line across US 79 (Russellville Rd), a remote location away from all the advertised towns (Hopkinsville, KY) fanfare that cause traffic jam, and then having to pay $20 just to park at location. I can't blame free enterprise. Even the churches were making money. :) I scouted the location using NASA coordinates and located it with google satellite view. There is no need to fight traffic and crowd. I'm too old for that. Found a shady spot. Then others decided to show up. I convinced them parking is $100. Stunned, then I told them today's free. Good way to find new friends. :) We had a great community. The most unusual experience was how the environment got dark and then light again. It was as if someone used a dimmer to control the lights in the house. Sunset and sun rise all around at the same time. Watching the eclipse that is not total is not the same. You don't get that complete darkness effect. April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse over Texas is on my calendar. Can't wait.
 

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Trade said:
I have an old (2006) Nikon D-40 with an upgraded Nikkor 18-105 VR Lens. I took those at the full 105mm.
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Cool! :cool: I didn't even attempt it with my little pocket camera, would've never gotten a good shot, but we only had a partial too.
 
Who got the best seat ???
yPk1b18.jpg
 
SeaBreeze said:
Cool! :cool: I didn't even attempt it with my little pocket camera, would've never gotten a good shot, but we only had a partial too.
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What I did, was to take a selfie of myself with the sun in the background over my shoulder. It's tiny but you can see it in partial eclipse which is all we had.
 

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