April 8 eclipse

[Jerry Adams]

Anyone seeing the April 8 eclipse?

I saw the 1979 eclipse – drove from L.A. to Portland

I saw the 2017 eclipse – drove from Portland to Bend

I don’t quite feel like flying to Texas, then spending multiple days.  For a 4 minute eclipse.

[jscott]

My guitar teacher chases eclipses. His friends just outside of Austin told him the trip to the airport would take 3 hours one way. Too much traffic. Jon looked  into renting a car.  $1200 a day. Forget it.

My friend in Austin said the total eclipse would last  just over  one minute  there. And all  of the surrounding lights come on automatically when it gets  dark. Sort of ruins the effect.

It was fogged in here for  the last total eclipse, which was partial in the Bay area. It got a bit  darker. Not enough that I would have noticed had I not  known. I was underwhelmed.

[Thom]

I’m in n ny . We are in the area of totality. Hope the weather is good. They say lots of tourists are coming to see it.
thom

[John K]

We are driving to wherever the forecast is best – will be mobile 24 hrs before. Saw the 2017 one – profound experience.

[MJ H]

I’m about an hour’s drive from the totality zone, but it seems like a lot of trouble to drive that far when we’re supposed get a 97% eclipse if I walk out the door.

[Monte Masterson]

I’m on the eastern edge of 100% in Southern Indiana. The whole area is expecting a massive surge of people, especially if the weather forecast isn’t predicting a lot of clouds for eclipse day. The little towns throughout rural Indiana will get an economic surge at stores, restaurants, motels, etc.

Supposedly you can’t truly take in the whole experience if you’re not in the 100% coverage area, such as seeing the sun’s corona and the feeling of near darkness with even crickets starting to chirp. Local meteorologists say there’s more of a difference between 97% and 100% than you might think, I don’t know. The total eclipse only last about 4 minutes.

 

 

[Jerry Adams]

99% – maybe underwhelming would be a good description.

100% – more like a profound experience.  Profound enough to drive a few hours.

the next time I see an eclipse I’d like to be on a high area so I can see the shadow coming and going.  In 2017 I planned to go somewhere in the Cascades, but they were covered with forest fire smoke.  I found another place that had some view.

just before and after the eclipse the leaves in the trees block most of the light but allow little pin pricks of light through.  Like pinhole cameras.  You could see little eclipses all over the ground

lots of weird effects

[Jerry Adams]

there’s a lunar eclipse warmup – starting at 10PM pacific daylight time, max at midnight – I think those are the times

[Monte Masterson]

The great Shawnee chief Tecumseh predicted the June 16, 1806 total eclipse. It covered much of the same areas as the one coming up April 8., I guess when you have over 12000 years of oral history to build on it’s not that unbelievable really.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_June_16,_1806

[Chris K]

I agree being in the path of totality, assuming a clear day, is profound. Even a 97% eclipse is no comparison.

 

We will be driving to Texas.

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

That last little sliver of light before totality is still bright like daylight. The light is weird, but it’s still light. Totality is awesome. It’s suddenly night and you can see “sunset/dawn” 360° around you around the edges of the horizon.

I won’t be going to see it though. Old lady getting married.

[Jerry Adams]

“The light is weird,”

yeah, like there are little eclipses on the ground below a tree

the sun is normally 0.5 degrees wide.  As you get close to eclipse it gets much narrower especially in one direction.  that produces weird defraction effects.  Like, there are bands a couple inches wide that travel 10 feet per second.

https://www.space.com/37776-shadow-bands-are-a-solar-eclipse-mystery.html

[David Hartley]

I live in NY (southwest of Rochester) in the path of totality. They are predicting thousands of tourists for the event. I have procured eclipse glasses and solar filters for my binoculars. However, I am worried that the weather won’t cooperate – at that time of year our area could easily be raining with a 1000 ft. ceiling of thick clouds.

[Russ W]

I just happed to schedule a business trip in Bloomington, IN for this time. Supposed to be 100% but you never know with the clouds!

[Alex H]

True story.  In 2017 I knew the center of the path of totality would go right over a little known/visited small bald in western NC with a cliff side view out over the valley and nearby ridges.  I had backpacked there 3 times and had never seen another person there or on the trails near by.

It is in the middle of a 25 mile loop, so three of us started at the beginning of the loop late one afternoon and the second day we reached the bald and there were a few people already camped, not really a surprise.  The next day, eclipse day, people started pouring in.  There is a rough and steep trail that comes up the side of the mountain from a Forest Service road, 2000 plus feet in 3 miles.  The road had been closed for years due to a wash out but they had just reopened it a few weeks before.

In the end there were probably 100 of my closest friends in a tiny opening that some proceeded to make larger with hand saws.  Some idiot brought a drone, etc, etc.  They were from all over the country Maine to Florida.  I asked how the hell they knew to come to this remote place and most just guessed or used Google maps.

The clouds parted and it was a great full view of the eclipse and I saw the shadow race across the valley below but the entire experience was marred by the crowd.  As soon as the eclipse was over they all turned and marched back down the mountain.  I won’t be chasing any more eclipses.  Be careful of where you go and what you might expect.

[Jerry Adams]

Same here – in 2017 I went to a place I often backpack and rarely see others.  But it was mobbed for the eclipse.

Maybe seeing the eclipse with other people is good?  Seeing everyone’s reaction?

[David Hartley]

They are getting pretty worried about the potential for crowds up in NY’s Adirondacks. They don’t have the infrastructure to handle it. They are worried the few roads they do have will be 50 mile traffic jams (it already can be an issue in popular areas like Lake Placid or Old Forge). The few cell towers they have do  not have enough capacity for the number of simultaneous cell phones that will be within range – so communications in an emergency could be challenging. There are limited hospitals and emergency medical facilities in many areas, and often an hour or more drive from many hours under normal conditions. Parking at the high peaks region trail heads is already a problem on summer weekends with normal traffic levels. For people that think they are going to hike to the top of a high peak to see the eclipse there is the potential for encountering deep snow at that time. There are very limited restaurant and hotel options – these fill up for small town events like an annual rustic furniture sale, or the annual Adirondack canoe race, et. It’s going to be a mess …

[John “Jay” Menna]

>99% – maybe underwhelming would be a good description.
>100% – more like a profound experience.  Profound enough to drive a few hours.

A partial eclipse is akin to a pizza that’s only been partially baked.

[Ray J]

I was little when my family witnessed the 1963 total eclipse while in Alaska.   We are in Texas and DFW is in the zone of totality, but on the northern edge.  We hope/plan to drive about 100 miles to a friends place out in the country.  they are directly under the totality strip.   Hope there is good weather.

[Peter Treiber]

Saw the 2017 eclipse near Summit Lake in the Winds.  It was beyond cool — like the eye of Sauron — and I was all alone as far as the eye could see.  This year I was going to skip it (a Michigander, I’d have to travel), but broke down and got my kid and I tickets to Mazatlán — if we don’t have clear skies, at least we’ll have a long weekend at the beach.  Best of luck, everybody!

[jscott]

” Seeing everyone’s reaction?”

How do I see everyone’s reaction in a total eclipse?

to be honest, we should all be amazed every minute that the sun is shining. “Awesome! Tremendous!!! the sun came up this morning. I flew 10,000 miles to witness the event in Buenos Aeries.”  Oh, wait, I could have just stayed home and watched the sun come up. everyone everywhere is given a sunrise every day. Rich or poor, man or woman, addict or temperate:  all are given the same blessing.

Our everyday lives are spectacular. If there was an eclipse every third day, we’d ignore it, or  complain.

[Jerry Adams]

“How do I see everyone’s reaction in a total eclipse?”

It’s like dusk – you can still see everyone

And for hours before there’s anticipation

Great with kids

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I saw the 2017 eclipse in Madras Oregon in a farmer’s field. Farmers were renting out plots in their fields. Most people were staying at the airport. The airport was clogged with people. There were only 2 other groups in the farmer’s field where we stayed, and one of the groups was from a nearby Southern California city to us. They were sort of new agey, they laid out their crystals to get “charged”. When it was over millions of people jammed the highway to go home. The worst traffic jam I’ve ever seen. But everyone was in good spirits. We stopped somewhere and camped in our car in some random neighborhood. Ate a really good breakfast in Paisely. Had no idea whar eastern Oregon looked like. Wow! So vast. Eventually we made it to the Sierras and went for a short backpack trip from Agnew Meadows. High snow year, so beautiful.

[Joey G]

I live in Austin. Finally I live in the right place for something I’d like to do outside!

[Jerry Adams]

I was in the mountains looking down at you Diane

I went there a day ahead to avoid crowds

I camped out and backpacked in those mountains for a few days afterwards

If one is just going to see the eclipse it doesn’t make sense for 5 minutes, but if you can make a trip out of it…

Yeah, Eastern Oregon is vast.  A lot like eastern California.  I really enjoy those areas in the winter when it’s not too hot and it’s drier than the west side

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