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The Eclipse

• BogeyOne 1,965 Posts

  Sun, Aug 20 2017 7:09 PM

  My location will experience a 90% event tomorrow morning which is significant but will not be anything like what will occur in the path of totality.

  It would be great to read about your impressions of this incredible celestial happening.

  Did you travel to get in the path of totality?  If you drove, then how was the traffic?

  Did you camp or have a room booked?  If so, was that room price heavily increased for the eclipse?

  Did you notice the birds quieting down?  Did you feel the calm breezes can arise?

  Looking forward to reading about how it all came down for you.

• NormCash25 117 Posts

  Sun, Aug 20 2017 8:55 PM

• Ducati916 1,116 Posts

  Sun, Aug 20 2017 9:15 PM

  I won't see this one, but, was fortunate enough to experience a total eclipse from a prime viewing location at a military camp a little more than half way up Mauna Kea in Hawaii on July 11, 1991. We stayed at the camp the night before. Totality was at 7:28 am and we were at about 8,000 ft. What I remember most is watching the sun rise and then shortly after, being struck by watching the shadow rapidly expand down the side of the mountain and cover the western side of the island in what seemed to be about 10 seconds. The temperature at that elevation was cool to start with, but, there was a very noticable drop at totality. I was very fortunate to be miles and miles away from any buildings, fog, smog, etc and watch the whole thing transpire with no interference while most of the lower elevation prime viewing locations in Hawaii had rainy conditions that morning. I had purchased several filters for my camera and took some incredible shots of the "Baily's Beads" effect.  

  It's a natural phenomenon I will never forget.

• K7JBQ 1,468 Posts

  Sun, Aug 20 2017 10:30 PM

  Very cool story, thanks.

• Woodoworkery 3,498 Posts

  Mon, Aug 21 2017 9:40 AM

  We are all excited here at my house, we are in the path ,and waiting for this great event.

   

• alosso 21,037 Posts

  Mon, Aug 21 2017 9:51 AM

  It's not the real deal, but I'm watching it from Germany via the British Sky TV who are in Oregon. 30 mins to go, and it's getting colder here around 7 pm - sunset ;)

• Luckystar5 1,636 Posts

  Mon, Aug 21 2017 11:38 AM

  It just ended here in Missouri,  U.S., the humming birds grouped togeather on the ground, groups of 3 to 4. Cicadas making all kinds of noise, for about 6 or 7 minutes.  It was an eerie glow, almost like just before a tornado.  Temperature dropped about 6 degrees, and the breeze quit entirely.......a really different experience.  

• filmslayer 2,340 Posts

  Mon, Aug 21 2017 1:27 PM

• BogeyOne 1,965 Posts

  Mon, Aug 21 2017 2:30 PM

  Thanks for all the good responses.  I have always had an interest in astronomy, having built my first telescope when I was only 12.

  Here I am in the mid 1990's with my 12.5 inch reflecting telescope, aptly named "Seymour."

   

  

• fatdan 3,379 Posts

  Mon, Aug 21 2017 3:27 PM

  I live in West St. Louis Co. Missouri(Chesterfield) and was fortunate to be able to watch it from my deck at the house!

  Didn't get as dark as I expected but the cicadas and crickets were noticeably active..got about as dark as it is just after sunset, nowhere near as dark as midnight as they said it would. You couldn't see the stars either like they said e would...

  I have an area of my yard st up with trees and bushes and several birdhouses, also an area setup with hummingbird feeders and a mister...didn't really see anything out of the ordinary with them or my dogs...

  Two things that really got your attention was the way the daylight looked and hour previous to it and after...can't even put it into words...and what they refer to as the "Diamond Ring" effect as the moon moves away from the sun, absolutely one of the most spectacular sights I have ever seen...

  Very very HOT here, only 92 but oppressive heat with a heat index of 101.... I really didn't notice much of a temperature drop they said would happen, possibly due to the high humidity....

  There were "eclipse" parties and gatherings all over the area, just about every park, school, or any open area with a good view of the sky was full of people, kinda cool to see in this day and age!