Total Solar Eclipse 2017

Time lapse video I made on Bob Stratton Bald, North Carolina

It was very cool to experience it in person… having seen photos of the corona during a total eclipse, well, it doesn’t do justice to the real thing — the quality of light just before, during and right after totality is very weird and unique. What was interesting is that the landscape didn’t appear to the eye to look like dusk until a few minutes before totality, and that totality came on very quickly and departed just as quickly.

I talked to a NFS ranger who was doing a head count with a co-worker and he told me that the official count was 342 people on Bob Bald and vicinity and another 50 people over toward Hangover Lead, which has a very tiny perch.

I figured those balds would be packed but maybe 342 is about all that one could fit.

I was essentially alone near Baker Lake in the Wind River Range. About 10 others did finally show up the afternoon prior but they choose to view from Yukon Peak mostly.

I also was solo backpacking in the WRR.  My chosen viewing location was Vista Pass in the Green River Lakes area.  I camped at the pass the night before the event, packed my gear the morning of the 21st, and moved a few hundred feet to an open area about an hour before near totality.  I was taking notes, pencil on paper, as the eclipse progressed and was a little surprised that during maximum darkness I could not read my writing; it was quite dark.

Though I was not on the 100% totality line the eclipse appeared to be complete to my eyes.

While I was observing the eclipse six people walked by.  Apparently most hikers were waiting for the last minute to make any observations.

With a late start I did not walk very far that day :)

We had a 3:30 pm plane to catch out of Portland back to Alaska for the first day of school Tuesday, so while I was originally thinking Madras OR and then thinking north of Madras OR, I went with Molalla OR.  A little over a minute of totality but we were north of 1-2 million people.  Even so, and leaving just one minute after totality was over, we hit traffic on the way north to PDX.  What should have been 50 minutes was 1.5 hours, but at least it wasn’t 5 hours like my BIL who went for the centerline.

Somehow, we didn’t see any Bailey’s Beads before or after like I did 38 years ago.  A new effect I just learned about the week before:  Shadow Bands.

My physicist brother-in-law fortunately passed on a tip from a long-time eclipse chaser: bands of light, visible on the ground, just before totality. What we observed, both before and after totality were irregular striations of light, a few cm wide, oriented north-south, spaced 50 cm apart, traveling to the west (the 2017 umbra was traveling to the east) at about 2 m/sec.

The explanation he gave: at the bottom of an outdoor swimming pool the sun’s light can be focused into bands of light and dark by the surface waves (actually, the interface between water and air) functioning as a lens. I’ve seen that effect many times. Similarly, the sun’s light can be focused by interfaces in the atmosphere between more and less dense air. The effect is much weaker because the refractive index difference is much, much smaller and the area of the sun’s disk usually masks the effect. But as totality appproaches, the sun’s disk approaches a point source and the effect becomes visible.

In anticipation, I picked a spot along a sidewalk which made it easier to see (but away from automatic streetlights and large cities with their light pollution).

I perhaps should have broken my put-down-the-camera-and-just-experience-it rule and grabbed a few seconds of video of it. At least my keep-your-head-on-a-swivel rule worked. There’s so much going on as you approach, are in and leave totality – it’s not all about the corona, diamond-ring and Bailey’s Beads effects.

should have broken my put-down-the-camera-and-just-experience-it rule and grabbed a few seconds of video of it

David, that’s precisely why I set up the cellphone video on a tripod and let it run.

Hopefully I’ll be able to do the same thing April 8, 2024.  ;^)

Bob, By 2024, your ocular implant – Apple’s iEye™- will anticipate what you want recorded and do it for you in 3D.

My not so secret place (look at a map!) was the Nebraska Panhandle.

Why?

• Among the least amount of light pollution in the lower 48
• Stable weather patterns
• Expansive views for 360 degrees
• No major highways near the path of totality
• 1500 people in 2000 square miles
• I had a  great campsite I’ve stayed in before that is free, secluded, sheltered, and shaded
• And the area is starkly beautiful

One of the best experiences I’ve ever had.  No major traffic, not many people, and I was able to get some hiking in too

https://pmags.com/panhandle-eclipse

Summary:

Great hiking:

Not many people

The totality was fantastic:

(from my friend)

My eclipse perch at cloudless, crowdless Summit Lake in the Winds:

It got cool and dark, and then the Eye of Sauron appeared!  Phenomenal experience!

I might have to get a high elevation for my eclipse.  The darker sky, more stars coming out, and the potential to see the shadow of totality racing across the lowlands below.

David

We were at 11,800 ft and could see for 75-100 miles, I am not sure really how far.  The rapid movement of darkness across the plains was impressive. That and the wind going from 30 knots to zero in a minute or two were more impressive to me than the sun.  I really saw how the ancients could believe this was the end of it all.

I was at Honeymoon Lake in the Winds. There were a LOT of people in the area. I saw more people on Saturday than I’d seen in 5 previous Winds trips combined. Most heading to Gannet Peak. We (my dog and I) stopped at Honeymoon on Saturday evening. Was just planning to stay the night and head out for somewhere up high for Sunday night and the eclipse. But it was beautiful, the fishing was great, and we had it to ourselves so I decided just to stay there. It worked out great.   And the clear nights were great as well.