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The "Great American Eclipse" August 21, 2017

ucfgrad93

ucfgrad93

macrumors Core
Original poster
Aug 17, 2007
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Colorado
USAToday.com said:
The biggest and best solar eclipse in American history arrives a year from today, and plans for celebrations, parties and festivities are already well underway.

On Aug. 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will be visible from coast to coast, according to NASA. It will be the first total eclipse visible only in the USA since the country was founded in 1776.

It will also be the first total solar eclipse to sweep across the entire country in 99 years, NASA says. And not since 1970 has there been an opportunity to see a total solar eclipse in such easily accessible and widespread areas of the nation.

The eclipse will start on the West Coast in Oregon and trace a 67-mile wide path east across the country, finally exiting the East Coast in South Carolina. At any given location, the total eclipse will last for around 2 or 3 minutes.

It will pass directly over cities such as Salem, Ore., Idaho Falls, Lincoln, Neb., Kansas City, Nashville, and Columbia and Charleston, S.C. Places within a one- or two-hour drive of the eclipse include Portland, Ore., Boise, Cheyenne, Rapid City, Omaha, Neb., Topeka, St. Louis, Louisville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Atlanta and Charlotte.
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Oh man, this looks very exciting!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2016/08/21/total-solar-eclipse-august-2017/88514886/

eclipse 2.jpg
 
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I took a test shot of the sun with a solar filter. Hand held with a 250mm lens.

2e0u3bk.jpg


We are planning to be around Charleston SC on Aug 21. I hope the clouds stay away. :eek:
 
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According to age-old testament eclipses are inauspicious. Of course, nowadays nobody bothers, everything is inauspicious more or less.
 
obeygiant said:
To me, its a rare case where the solar system speaks to you.
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Fair enough but the solar system is always speaking to you, only hardly anyone is bothered or interested in it, more interest is given to gif memes on their smartphones.
 
obeygiant said:
I'm planing on Kentucky for this one! I just hope its not cloudy!
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Cloudy or not, it's going to get dark for a few minutes. Cloudy would be a blessing since many observers of these events (against the advice of not looking directly, or with the naked eye, into the sun as it disappears behind the moon, and subsequently reappears) disregard these warnings, resulting in permanent vision loss of varying degrees.

If one cannot resist the temptation to peek, shielding your eyes with something that has the density of the eye piece of a welder's helmet might be a safe bet. Or as mentioned above, a proper solar filter.
 
For the first time in my lifetime, there will be a total solar eclipse of the sun near where I'm living. (Actually it's going to be a 450 mile (one way) roadtrip. But I can still drive there...) It starts around mid-day on August 21, and runs in a 30-mile wide band across the continental US, from Oregon to South Carolina. It promises to be one of the most viewed - and photographed, Tweeted, discussed, etc. total eclipses in history.

I know to some people it seems like a foolish excursion for what will be an event lasting just a few minutes. But I look at it as a true "once in a lifetime" experience. I'm planning on going with a friend to share the driving and some of the expenses. We're still looking for the special solar viewing glasses, but that seems like a solvable problem. The only thing that could spoil the fun is if the weather doesn't cooperate by being overcast or rainy. Two days of driving and a couple hundred dollars in expenses might seem like a lot, but doing this has been on my "bucket list" for a while. I've been to a SuperBowl. I won't climb Mt. Everest or run with the bulls in Pamplona.)

Any other folks plan on making special arrangements to see the Total Eclipse? Any hints or tips from veterans or space junkies?
 
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Our closest friends are going to be right in the path of it in the Portland, Oregon area. Unfortunately, we're 600 miles south of that, so we'll only be getting the partial.

My parents are driving down from Omaha to St. Joseph, Missouri to see it, as St. Joe is going to be directly in the path. 120 miles, but well worth it for the day trip. They'll continue the extra 50 miles down to Kansas City just because. I also have a lot of friends driving down to there to see it, so they'll be in for a great time.

I'm actually jealous of them; with the exception of my 4th grade year in elementary school (and even then, since it was happening during the day, they told us to have recess inside), every total eclipse that has occurred has been a cloudy day where I have been.

With that said, I'm looking forward to getting out into open space to see this!

BL.
 
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vrDrew said:
For the first time in my lifetime, there will be a total solar eclipse of the sun near where I'm living. (Actually it's going to be a 450 mile (one way) roadtrip. But I can still drive there...) It starts around mid-day on August 21, and runs in a 30-mile wide band across the continental US, from Oregon to South Carolina. It promises to be one of the most viewed - and photographed, Tweeted, discussed, etc. total eclipses in history.

I know to some people it seems like a foolish excursion for what will be an event lasting just a few minutes. But I look at it as a true "once in a lifetime" experience. I'm planning on going with a friend to share the driving and some of the expenses. We're still looking for the special solar viewing glasses, but that seems like a solvable problem. The only thing that could spoil the fun is if the weather doesn't cooperate by being overcast or rainy. Two days of driving and a couple hundred dollars in expenses might seem like a lot, but doing this has been on my "bucket list" for a while. I've been to a SuperBowl. I won't climb Mt. Everest or run with the bulls in Pamplona.)

Any other folks plan on making special arrangements to see the Total Eclipse? Any hints or tips from veterans or space junkies?
Click to expand...

If I were living in the US, I would make every effort possible to try to see this; agreed, it is a once in a lifetime spectacle; I saw the partial eclipse over Europe in 1999, when around around 80-90% of the sun was covered and the light was quite distinctly eerie, but awesome; I would have loved to have seen the full eclipse.

And, as a very small child, I saw the very partial eclipse of 1970.

bradl said:
Our closest friends are going to be right in the path of it in the Portland, Oregon area. Unfortunately, we're 600 miles south of that, so we'll only be getting the partial.

My parents are driving down from Omaha to St. Joseph, Missouri to see it, as St. Joe is going to be directly in the path. 120 miles, but well worth it for the day trip. They'll continue the extra 50 miles down to Kansas City just because. I also have a lot of friends driving down to there to see it, so they'll be in for a great time.

I'm actually jealous of them; with the exception of my 4th grade year in elementary school (and even then, since it was happening during the day, they told us to have recess inside), every total eclipse that has occurred has been a cloudy day where I have been.

With that said, I'm looking forward to getting out into open space to see this!

BL.
Click to expand...

Agreed, but enjoy it anyway. It is an amazing spectacle.
 
Some prankster covered the sky with clouds. I'm not in the path of totality, but the sun is totally eclipsed.
 
For those that can't see it, the Oregonian is covering it, along with NASA, PBS, and the Smithsonian.

Let's have some fun with this while it happens. Name a song that would be apropos for this, that is NOT Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart.

I'll start: Bruce Hornsby: Walk on the Sun

And go! :)

BL.
 
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