This is beyond neat! The eclipse date 08/21/2017 turns out to be a Monday so you could make it a 3 day weekend. Where will you be? http://www.ibtimes.co.in/great-amer...ng-celestial-event-691062#eezxcQSiFWh9qfsY.97 Great American Total Solar Eclipse: When is it? NASA reveals top spots for viewing the celestial event August 24, 2016 16:56 IST By Ankita Mehta 1 image: http://data1.ibtimes.co.in/cache-img-0-450/en/full/600981/1472038019_solar-eclipse.jpg solar eclipse Pictured: A total solar eclipse is seen from the beach of Ternate island, Indonesia, March 9, 2016.Reuters In less than a year, North America will witness its first total solar eclipse since 1918. The celestial event, which is known as the "Great American Total Solar Eclipse," will occur next year on Aug. 21. On Aug. 21, 2017, for the first time in more than 98 years, the shadow of the total eclipse will sweep North America. What makes the upcoming solar eclipse special is that for the first time in nine decades, the U.S. will witness a total solar eclipse, where mostly partial eclipses are seen. According to Space.com, the moon will eclipse at least 80 percent of the sun's diameter on Aug. 21, 2017, and the path of the total solar eclipse will go coast to coast across the U.S. The path of the "Great American Total Solar Eclipse" can be viewed on NASA's website. At least 12 million people living within the totality path can view the eclipse, but more than 220 million Americans living within a one-day drive might travel to see the eclipse. Skygazers are excited and have already started preparing to witness the celestial event. Several cities in the U.S. have started planning for the event, and people have started booking hotel rooms for next year. Self-described eclipse chaser Mike Kentrianakis has called the "Great American Total Solar Eclipse" bigger than the Super Bowl. NASA and other eclipse-focused organisations have listed the top spots to view the "Great American Total Solar Eclipse" so that sky gazers can plan their trips in advance. Snake River Valley, Idaho, Madras, Casper, Wyoming, Nashville, South Carolina and many other places in the U.S. have been named as the top spots for viewing the total eclipse next year. If you miss the event next year, you can, of course, witness the next total solar eclipse in North America in 2024. RELATED Blood moon 2016: Conspiracy theorists claim planet Nibiru to destroy Earth Perseid Meteor Shower 2016: Check out the stunning photos and videos of shooting stars Read more at http://www.ibtimes.co.in/great-amer...ng-celestial-event-691062#ZoyMwUisu1DeZEPZ.99
Oh, come now, I can't believe nobody here wants to see this: http://www.aol.com/article/2016/08/22/the-great-american-eclipse-is-less-than-a-year-away/21456532/ The 'Great American Eclipse' is less than a year away Aug 22nd 2016 11:32AM X About a year from now, a total eclipse of the Sun will be visible across many parts of the U.S. On August 21, 2017, much of the country will be treated to one of the most visually striking phenomena in all of the sky and world. SEE ALSO: Scientists believe they have discovered a fifth force According to USA Today, "It will be the first total eclipse visible only in the USA since the country was founded in 1776." Describing what the event will be like, NASA notes, "the path of the Moon's umbral shadow begins in northern Pacific and crosses the USA from west to east through parts of the following states: Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina. The Moon's penumbral shadow produces a partial eclipse visible from a much larger region covering most of North America." Anyone in the continental U.S. will be able to view at least a partial eclipse lasting around two minutes but those best-placed along the eclipse's trajectory will see a total eclipse lasting around two minutes and 42 seconds. And, though it's never advisable to stare directly at the sun without protection, the totality is safe to look at, according to NASA.
Thanks to global warming it will be too hot to go out to see the total eclipse in August of next year. The temperature will be 110° in the shade.
I've thought about the fact of all the forest fires they keep having over the summer in the western US. That might put a damper on observing it in Oregon, Idaho and/or Wyoming.
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html is a link to Nasa's image that shows the path of the eclipse.
The eclipse2017.org site has a tremendous amount of information on the eclipse. Especially check out this link within the site which is a narrative of the path with links to state maps showing the path and the individual communities in the path: http://www.eclipse2017.org/2017/path_through_the_US.htm
Wow!! This is super amazing. I live in Utah, so going up to Idaho or Wyoming is not all that bad for me. I even have family up there. So going to watch this next year! Thanks for the great post.
You're very welcome, PosterBoy! In fact Casper in Wyoming is right in the middle of the path and they are having a huge festival. They're expecting up to 50,000 people and 1,000 astronomers.
Here's more: Get Ready Now For Augusts Historic Solar Eclipse The moons penumbra will be cast over all of North America, with the sun completely blocked across a path roughly 70 miles wide. G.W. Thielman By G.W. Thielman MARCH 2, 2017 Seven months after Donald Trumps inauguration, the nation will be plunged in darkness that sweeps across the continent. And it wont even be his fault. Or Obamas. Or the fault of the Russians, Chinese, Iranians, flyover deplorables, urban bubbleheads, college snowflakes, jihadist immigrants, or anyone else. Instead, well get to witness a total solar eclipse on Monday, 21 August as illustrated by this global map provided by Xavier Jubier. The U.S. Naval Observatory has a more easily printable map, as shown below. The moons penumbra will be cast over all of North America, with the sun completely blocked across a path roughly 70 miles wide. Beginning over the Pacific, totality occurs at 10:18 a.m. (PDT) over Salem, Oregon, at 11:43 a.m. (MDT) in Casper, Wyoming, at 1:28 p.m. (CDT) over Nashville, Tennessee, and will be last visible in North America at 2:47 p.m. (EDT) in Charleston, South Carolina, crossing the country in 92 minutes. The lunar shadow travels eastward because the moons tangential speed is almost three times faster than our surface rotation at that latitude. NASA provides animations from its website and on the YouTube link below. Links to regional maps are available for more details. If you miss this years eclipse, youll have to wait until Saturday, 12 August 2045 for the next such sweeping affair, although another total eclipse will be visible from Texas through Maine on Monday, 8 April 2024. In a solar eclipse, the moon passes in front of the sun, casting a shadow over part of the earths surface. This shadow was photographed from the International Space Station during the total eclipse of 29 March 2006 over Africa and Asia. When the moons orbital distance approaches the minimum (perigee), its disc obscures the sun completely while permitting us to view the suns corona. This is called a total eclipse. When the moon approaches the maximum orbital distance (apogee) while passing in front of the sun, the sun nonetheless shines along the periphery. This is called an annular eclipse. The lunar orbits eccentricity causes the moons relative sizes to overlap those of the sun, which is 400 times greater in diameter and 400 times farther than the moon. Earth is unique in the solar system by having solar and lunar disks approximately similar to each other. In a partial eclipse, the moon blocks only a portion of the sun at the maximum extent. Solar Eclipses in World History Solar eclipses have caught attention since ancient times. A clay tablet from Ras Shamra (Bronze Age Ugarit) in Syria reports an eclipse dated to 3 May 1375 BC, using the Julian calendar. In the aftermath of the Trojan War, Ulysses returns home to Ithaca intending to slaughter Penelopes suitors. According to Homer in the Odyssey, this coincides with such an eclipse dated to 16 August 1178 BC. Iron Age prophets in Israel and Judah mention the sun darkening in Amos 8:9, Isaiah 13:10, and Joel 2:31, the first of which presumably corresponds to 15 June 763 BC, having been recorded by the Assyrians during the eponymy of Bûr-Saggilê, governor of Gūzanā. Greek historians notably commemorated such eclipses. Herodotus in his History describes an interruption of battle between Lydians and Medes on 28 May 585 BC by day turning to night, ostensibly foretold by philosopher Thales of Miletus (Turkey). Xenophon in Anabasis describes the abandonment of Larisa to the Persians following another total eclipse on 19 May 557 BC. Historians from the Roman and later medieval periods continued this tradition. Livy in his History of Rome reports a total eclipse during Apollo games on 14 March 190 BC. According to Sahih al-Bukhari 1043 (book 16 Hadith 4), Muhammads infant son Ibrahim died coinciding with an annular eclipse on 27 January 632. Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, witnessed a total eclipse on 5 May 840 and died less than seven weeks later, leading to the Treaty of Verdun that divided his kingdom. William of Malmesbury in his Chronicle of the Kings of England relates a total eclipse on 2 August 1133, the day after Henry I departed England. That eclipse was reportedly observed in Heilsbronn in Notae Halesbrunnenses and associated by Honorii Augustodensis in Summa Totius et Imagine Mundi with the sack of Augsburg, both in Bavaria, Germany. What Literature Says about a Solar Eclipse Eclipses also appear in literature, even if implicitly. Geoffrey Chaucer in The Franklins Tale relates a marriage promise to Aurelius in exchange for causing the rocks on the coast of Brittany to disappear, which the astronomical protagonist accomplishes by very high tides during a total eclipse attributed to 19 December 1340, not long before Chaucers birth. In Henry VI, circumstances for our half-faced sun allude to the Battle of Albans in 1455 during the War of the Roses. However, the corresponding celestial event may anachronistically refer to an annular eclipse on 30 November 1453, 18 months earlier. (In 1582, the dates switch to the Gregorian calendar.) Witnessing a total eclipse on 12 October 1605 may have influenced William Shakespeare before publishing King Lear, in which the Earl of Gloucester warns about the significance of eclipses in act one scene two. John Milton in Paradise Lost rhapsodizes on the apprehension these events draw, based on his probable witness of a total eclipse on 30 March 1661.
Granny wonderin' if it'll get cold enough to snow in August?... Spectators Gear Up in US for Coast-to-coast Solar Eclipse June 21, 2017 — The first total solar eclipse across the continental United States in a century is expected to spark watching parties and traffic jams as it darkens skies from Oregon to South Carolina, authorities said Wednesday. See also: Solar Eclipse Mania Spurs US Festivals, Tours, Sold-out Hotels April 04, 2017 - Get ready for solar eclipse mania. Destinations in the path of the Aug. 21 eclipse, which will be visible in the U.S. along a narrow path from Oregon to South Carolina, are going wild with plans for festivals, concerts and viewing parties.
My home happens to be inside the path of totality so it'll be pretty easy for me to observe if it turns out skies will be clear. This will undoubtedly be the most viewed and most studied eclipse ever.
Why am I not surprised someone has tried to politicize the eclipse: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/2/boston-globe-mocked-for-tying-solar-eclipse-to-tru/ Boston Globe mocked for tying solar eclipse to Trump voters A Boston Globe article attempting to make a connection between the solar eclipse and President Trump supporters is being widely mocked on social media. (Boston Globe) By Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times - Wednesday, August 2, 2017 A Boston Globe article attempting to make a connection between the solar eclipse and President Trump supporters is being widely mocked on social media. The article by Globe reporter Matt Rocheleau, titled “The solar eclipse path will overwhelmingly pass over Trump Country,” starts off by asking the question, “Is the eclipse throwing shade at Clinton supporters?” The Boston Globe ✔ @BostonGlobe The path of viewing spots for this month’s solar eclipse cuts overwhelmingly through places that voted for Trump. http://bos.gl/vwdmuS4 1:43 PM - Aug 1, 2017 1,866 1,866 Replies 509 509 Retweets 857 857 likes The piece goes on to explain that while the solar eclipse will be visible across the U.S., the “path of ideal viewing spots” for the total eclipse cuts “overwhelmingly through places that voted for President Trump in November.” “People will only be able to see a total eclipse if they’re located along the ‘path of totality,’ which will start near Lincoln City, Ore., and end near Charleston, S.C.,” Mr. Rocheleau wrote. He said the path is roughly 70 miles wide and spans about 240 counties — 92 percent of which swung in Mr. Trump’s favor, “while fewer than two dozen counties voted for his opponent, Hillary Clinton.” The article points out that Mr. Trump himself was born on June 14, 1946 — the same day there was a total lunar eclipse, “though it wasn’t visible from the United States, NASA records show.” Many Twitter users didn’t understand why The Globe was making a political connection to the eclipse, which will occur on Aug. 21. [Twitter posts]
Here's more: http://www.newsweek.com/solar-eclip...&utm_campaign=most_read&utm_medium=most_read2 TECH & SCIENCE AUTHORITIES ARE TREATING AUGUST'S SOLAR ECLIPSE, A FIRST IN 99 YEARS, LIKE IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD BY MEREDITH RUTLAND BAUER ON 7/30/17 AT 12:30 PM 08_11_SolarEclipse_01 IN THE MAGAZINE A reflected image of the sun is seen on a white board as kids look up to view the beginning a partial solar eclipse outside the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego, California on October 23, 2014. The total solar eclipse on August 21 will be the first visible across the United States since 1918. MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS Port-a-potty shortages. Cellular blackout zones. Ambulances stuck in gridlock. These are the conditions emergency managers across the nation are expecting the week of August 21.No, a major hurricane isn’t forecast. This isn’t preparation for a cyberattack after someone tipped the FBI. Beyoncé isn’t doing a national tour—but the cause is a star of another kind.Tech & Science Emails and Alerts - Get the best of Newsweek Tech & Science delivered to your inboxThe upcoming solar eclipse—the first in 99 years to sweep across the continental United States—has so many fans that disaster-level preparations are being put in place because of the large number of travelers predicted to jockey for prime viewing spots. As many as 7.4 million people are expected to pack into a 70-mile-wide band across the U.S. to watch the moon’s umbra block out the sun for a two-minute window on August 21, according to solar eclipse education website GreatAmericanEclipse.com. The path of totality, the area where the sun is completely blocked out, stretches from Oregon to South Carolina.Here’s why many folks are planning for a disaster: Oregon has a population of 4 million people, and the eclipse is expected to draw 1 million visitors to the state for a few days. In Missouri, preparations resemble that for a blizzard or “everything from St. Patrick’s Day parade to a World Series celebration,” says Chris Hernandez, city spokesman for Kansas City, Missouri, one of the larger metro areas in the path of the eclipse.All of those visitors are expected to clog interstates, along with state and local roads, for days before and after the eclipse, much like the rush during emergency evacuations, says Brad Kieserman, vice president of disaster operations and logistics for the American Red Cross. “Some of these places are never going to see traffic like this,” he says. In some areas, “the population will be double or triple.”Once visitors arrive, they’ll need bottles of water, lodging and restrooms. And, of course, solar glasses. In Columbia, South Carolina, the city’s main museum has bought 5,000 bottles of water for thirsty eclipse viewers, and the city government plans to send out trucks to frequently refill planned water stations. In Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park staff have rented an extra 200 portable toilets to accommodate “their busiest day in history, meaning past or future,” says Kathryn Brackenridge, eclipse coordinator for the town of Jackson, Wyoming.She was hired earlier this year to organize details regarding emergency preparedness and marketing related to the solar eclipse.Merritt McNeely, director of marketing for the South Carolina State Museum, called a local portable toilet company six months ago to reserve its services. She’s worried about a national port-a-potty shortage. National Construction Rentals, which rents portable toilets across the U.S., hasn’t seen a spike in demand, but “there most likely will be last-minute requests as the date approaches,” says the company’s sales and marketing director, Scott Barley. “We advise customers not to spend too much time in our portable toilets on the actual date of August 21, or they may miss this very brief but memorable event.”And don’t expect lodging to be available, experts say. Hotel rooms along the eclipse route were mostly sold out as of June, and Airbnb rentals in the path of totality are reaching $1,000 a night in some cities.That’s an issue for the Red Cross, which regularly gives victims of home fires and other destructive events hotel vouchers, so they can sleep comfortably while repairs take place, Kieserman says. “You’re not going to have hotel space in most of these places. So where are these people going to stay?” The Red Cross is preparing hundreds of emergency shelters in the 12 states that will be touched by the eclipse in case of other emergencies that could occur while millions of travelers are away from home, he adds. Everything from earthquakes to heat waves to hurricanes could cause thousands to need immediate shelter.Hospitals are preparing for more cases of heat stroke, twisted ankles and car crashes, but two factors have Coleen Niemann, spokeswoman for Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, particularly worried: With so much traffic, normal deliveries of medicine and supplies likely won’t arrive on time, so her hospital is stocking up on emergency supplies.Another concern: Cellular service towers aren’t meant to handle the capacity of an additional half-million to a million people per state. Cellphone, GPS and smartphone internet services will likely be nonexistent near the eclipse zone, she says.Cellphone companies often have priority channels for government agencies and emergency workers, Verizon spokeswoman Karen Schulz tells Newsweek. The company “has prepared our networks for the additional capacity needs we expect during the eclipse and have emergency contingency plans in place to ensure access for first responders and other authorities.”Niemann’s hospital is turning to beepers and landlines if doctors need to be reached while outside of the building. It has even asked employees to provide the number of a neighbor who has a landline if they don’t have one, and the hospital will begin an old-school phone tree to call in staff in the event it needs more emergency responders.Kieserman says the Red Cross will use ham radio to communicate when cellphone networks inevitably go down, but its staff and volunteers working on emergency response will have some access to top-priority emergency cell channels.Given all the hoopla involved in preparing for the event, how should eclipse gypsies get ready? Experts say pack enough food and water in your car in case you’re stuck in gridlock traffic for hours, print out directions since GPS (especially Google Maps) likely won’t be an option and know where you’re staying at night. Don’t wing it and expect to find a hotel room the day before the eclipse, or you may end up in an emergency shelter or sleeping in your car.“Please come prepared,” says Denise Germann, National Park Service spokeswoman for Grand Teton National Park. Also, “come with your patience.”
Here's more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/oh-no-here-come-the-solar-eclipse-hordes-1502489393 OPINION COMMENTARY CROSS COUNTRY Oh No, Here Come the Solar Eclipse Hordes In a tony corner of the Tetons, the rich and famous prepare to profit from supply and demand. The Grand Tetons, Jackson, Wyo. The Grand Tetons, Jackson, Wyo. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES By Rod Pennington Aug. 11, 2017 6:09 p.m. ET 11 COMMENTS Jackson, Wyo. In the general election last year, Hillary Clinton won just over 20% of the vote in Wyoming. But in Teton County—perhaps the most liberal county in America that doesn’t have ocean views or a major university—she beat Donald Trump by more than 25 percentage points. Jackson, Teton’s biggest town, is a magnet to the outdoors-loving rich and famous. With world-class skiing, national parks and no state income tax, it’s easy to see why. IRS tax data from 2015, the most recent year available, show Teton County as having the second-highest average income in the U.S. According to Trulia.com, the average price of a single-family home in Jackson is north of $2 million. Yet people in this charming alpine hamlet are losing their collective minds. On Aug. 21, the epicenter of a total solar eclipse will pass roughly between the tram at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and the top of the Grand Teton. Most American cities aren’t as lucky as Jackson: The eclipse’s “path of totality”—that is, the span of land in the direct path of the moon’s shadow—is only about 70 miles wide. The eclipse has caused plenty of excitement, but it also has caused some cognitive dissonance for local progressives. Elected officials and government bureaucrats here have seldom found any problems that couldn’t benefit from municipal micromanagement—from dog waste to building heights. Yet the prospect of a town of 10,000 being overrun by tourists wanting a glimpse of the eclipse has raised a nagging doubt. What if there are limits to what government can do? The city’s busybodies have held meetings, hired an “eclipse coordinator,” and set up contingency plans. But officials are slowly realizing it will only take a few unkind and drunken strangers to create a nightmare scenario. The planners are hopeful the visitor surge will be more like a Coachella than the Sturgis motorcycle rally. Considering the local demographics, they may be right. Many of the well-to-do denizens are part-timers whose sprawling homes and ranches are often empty or underused. Usually by the third week of August, with the children heading back to school, traffic becomes less snarled. Fewer tourists jockey for selfies in front of the town’s famous antler arches. Yet later this month nearly all the local gentry will be in town for the eclipse, and they will be inviting their friends. There will be valet parking at Jackson Hole Airport for private jets. The restaurants will be packed with movie stars, celebrities and titans of business. Problem is, there are only two roads in and out of Jackson. In normal times, even a minor fender-bender on one of the main arteries can snarl traffic for hours. And since it’s dry season, the current undergrowth will be kindling waiting for a stray discarded cigarette. Imagine an already packed road filled with people trying to get away from a rapidly spreading brush fire. All the town hall meetings in the world can’t solve this problem. The second core belief to be challenged is economic. If you haven’t already booked a room in Jackson for the eclipse, you may be out of luck. Pretty much every room within 100 miles is already reserved. The Four Seasons is offering seats at the mountaintop Rendezvous Lodge for $375 a person. Anyone who manages to find a room will probably pay five times the normal rate and need to book a lengthy stay. Even at those rates there hasn’t been enough housing to satisfy the market. Independent brokers have stepped in to fill the vacuum by offering home and condo owners up to $1,000 a night for a bedroom with a four-day guarantee if they are willing to rent. In a less enlightened enclave, activists might call all of this price gouging. But many Jackson residents are suddenly disciples of the law of supply and demand. The same people who insisted their homeowners association add strict rules keeping out Airbnb are now looking for loopholes so they can rent their places out. The City Council is quietly relaxing its rules on short-term rentals, in-town camping and open-container laws. The local police, stretched thin, are advising wealthy homeowners to hire private security. If your invitation from Harrison Ford or Dick Cheney gets lost in the mail, you might want to consider visiting somewhere else. Casper, Wyo., is lovely in August. Mr. Pennington is a writer in Jackson, Wyo.
Here's more: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/8/10/16114762/total-solar-eclipse-chasers-2017 Why a total solar eclipse is a life-changing event, according to 8 eclipse chasers “You never forget your first kiss … you always remember your first time in the shadow,” says one eclipse chaser. Updated by Brian Resnick and Joss Fong Aug 10, 2017, 2:01pm EDT OMAR TORRES/AFP/Getty Images There’s a total solar eclipse somewhere on Earth once every 18 months or so. And whether it’s passing over a barren, ice-cragged coast of Antarctica, a remote African desert, or a lonely patch of ocean, you can be sure there will be an umbraphile — a shadow-loving eclipse chaser — there to see it. Eclipse chasers are people who plan their lives around (and spend small fortunes on) eclipse travel. This year, of course, they’ll be joining millions of people in the United States to see the total solar eclipse on August 21. We wanted to know: What’s so special about total solar eclipses that you would chase them around the world? So we called up eight eclipse chasers and talked to them for hours, asking them all a similar set of questions. Their responses were much more moving and poetic than we anticipated. Chasing eclipses is not about a cheap thrill. It’s more like a pilgrimage, but one with a constantly moving shrine. “There are insufficient superlatives in the English language, or any language for that matter, to adequately describe the experience of a total solar eclipse,” one told us. Let’s try. These responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity. How many total solar eclipses have you seen? SSPL/Getty Images Rhonda Coleman, eclipse-chasing resident of Bend, Oregon Six. … I'm a very modest chaser. Some people have [seen] dozens. Glenn Schneider, astronomer at the University of Arizona Thirty-three. Bill Kramer, a retired computer engineer who runs the website Eclipse-chaser.com Sixteen total solar eclipses. Fred Espenak, a retired NASA astrophysicist who has predicted the next 1,000 years of eclipses I've been to 27 total eclipses and I've seen about 20 of them. Seven clouded out. David Makepeace, eclipse chaser and filmmaker This one in America will be my 16th. Joe Rao, meteorologist in New York I've seen a grand total of 11 total eclipses. Kate Russo, clinical psychologist and author of Being in the Shadow: Stories of first-time eclipse experience I've seen 10 total solar eclipses, and of those, two were clouded out. Mike Kentrianakis, astronomer with the American Astronomical Society’s solar eclipse task force I have seen 10 total solar eclipses. Tell us about your first time OMAR TORRES/AFP/Getty Images Joe Rao They say you never forget your first kiss, you never forget making love for the first time, and as far as an eclipse chaser goes, you always remember your first time in the shadow. David Makepeace I flew to Mexico to see a girl. I didn't go to see an eclipse. And then the eclipse came, and it completely floored me. I was completely unprepared for the vision I saw in the sky, and for how intense the feeling was of all of a sudden being lifted in my consciousness off the globe, off this two-dimensional life I was living. It opened up a three-dimensionality that I was not prepared for. ... In some sense, I've spent the past 26 years also trying to come to terms with that. Bill Kramer We were bobbing in the water, clear sky all around us; the sea was relatively calm. This eclipse darkness wall came flashing across the water — and covered us in darkness. And there was this eclipse. “This is like looking upon the eye of God.” That's the nearest thing I could equate it to. Glenn Schneider I was literally transfixed, I couldn't move. I couldn't operate my cameras. I didn't even think about the telescope. My binoculars hung around my neck and I just stood there staring up at the hole in the sky. ... When it was over, I just stood there unable to move until somebody finally shook me back into reality. Fred Espenak By the time the total eclipse ended … I had already promised myself that once in a lifetime was not enough. It was just spectacular and much too short. I've been to the majority of them since then over the past 47 years. Kate Russo I had no idea that it was going to be so powerful and emotive and euphoric and exciting. ... It's very unlike any other experience. This is why us eclipse chasers are so passionate. We so want to share this experience with other people. What does it feel like to experience a total solar eclipse? Why are you hooked? Milloslav Druckmuller / Barcroft Media / Getty Images Bill Kramer There are insufficient superlatives in the English language — or any language, for that matter — to adequately describe the experience of a total solar eclipse. I always tell people my fifth eclipse is when my hands stopped shaking during totality. I made a comment of that, and a guy who's seen more eclipses than I came back and said, "Really? Your hands stopped shaking?" Kate Russo When I talk about seeing a total solar eclipse, nobody gets it. Nobody can actually understand what it's like in that situation because it's just not within our human experience. The rules of nature are turned upside down, so we just cannot imagine it. Joe Rao How much alien stimulation can the mind process in just a little over two minutes? If I told you that I was in a major thunderstorm, or I saw a gorgeous sunset, you can relate to that. Because I'm sure you have experienced a big thunderstorm in your life, and I'm sure you've seen more than your share of beautiful sunsets. When I tell people about my first total eclipse, or any total eclipse, it's impossible to relate that. Rhonda Coleman It's very ... it almost is like a bit of a dreadful feeling. It's like, "Whoa, wait a minute. What's happening to my planet?" ... It's a topsy-turvy world. It's not like night. It's not like day. It's not like twilight. It's like nothing you've ever felt before. Fred Espenak You experience the music of the spheres, as Kepler called them, the mechanics of the solar system in action. You get an overwhelming sense of humbleness and how small and petty we really are compared to the mechanics of the solar system, the clockwork of the universe. These events that are taking place, that in no way can we affect or stop. It gives us a sense of how tiny we are and yet how we're connected to the whole system. All this happens all at once. David Makepeace I saw the total eclipse and I realized that I was living in a much deeper, much more dynamic universe than I had previously considered. Mike Kentrianakis This is the grandest of all astronomical spectacles. It's actually the greatest natural wonder that you could possibly see. Except, of course, the birth of a child.
Creationists should use the fact that our Sun and Moon are the exact size and distance required to create an eclipse as proof that "God Did It". Complete BS but, better than what they usually use.
I watched it: https://www.yahoo.com/news/americans-stake-prime-viewing-spots-see-sun-dark-071154168.html 'A primal experience': Americans dazzled by solar eclipse Associated Press MARCIA DUNN,Associated Press 9 minutes ago Total solar eclipse crosses U.S., captivating millions Scroll back up to restore default view. The stars came out in the middle of the day, zoo animals ran in agitated circles, crickets chirped, birds fell silent and a chilly darkness settled upon the land Monday as the U.S. witnessed its first full-blown, coast-to-coast solar eclipse since World War I. Millions of Americans gazed in wonder at the cosmic spectacle, with the best seats along the so-called path of totality that raced 2,600 miles (4,200 kilometers) across the continent from Oregon to South Carolina. "It was a very primal experience," Julie Vigeland, of Portland, Oregon, said after she was moved to tears by the sight of the sun reduced to a silvery ring of light in Salem. It took 90 minutes for the shadow of the moon to travel across the country. Along that path, the moon blotted out the midday sun for about two wondrous minutes at any one place, eliciting oohs, aahs, whoops and shouts from people gathered in stadiums, parks and backyards. It was, by all accounts, the most-observed and most-photographed eclipse in history, documented by satellites and high-altitude balloons and watched on Earth through telescopes, cameras and cardboard-frame protective eyeglasses. In Boise, Idaho, where the sun was more than 99 percent blocked, the street lights flicked on briefly, while in Nashville, Tennessee, people craned their necks at the sky and knocked back longneck beers at Nudie's Honky Tonk bar. Passengers aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean watched it unfold as Bonnie Tyler sang her 1983 hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart." Several minor-league baseball teams — one of them, the Columbia Fireflies, outfitted for the day in glow-in-the-dark jerseys — briefly suspended play. At the White House, despite all the warnings from experts about the risk of eye damage, President Donald Trump took off his eclipse glasses and looked directly at the sun. The path of totality, where the sun was 100 percent obscured by the moon, was just 60 to 70 miles (96 to 113 kilometers) wide. But the rest of North America was treated to a partial eclipse, as were Central America and the upper reaches of South America. Skies were clear along most of the route, to the relief of those who feared cloud cover would spoil the moment. "Oh, God, oh, that was amazing," said Joe Dellinger, a Houston man who set up a telescope on the Capitol lawn in Jefferson City, Missouri. "That was better than any photo." For the youngest observers, it seemed like magic. "It's really, really, really, really awesome," said 9-year-old Cami Smith as she gazed at the fully eclipsed sun in Beverly Beach, Oregon. NASA reported 4.4 million people were watching its TV coverage midway through the eclipse, the biggest livestream event in the space agency's history. "It can be religious. It makes you feel insignificant, like you're just a speck in the whole scheme of things," said veteran eclipse-watcher Mike O'Leary of San Diego, who set up his camera along with among hundreds of other amateur astronomers in Casper, Wyoming. John Hays drove up from Bishop, California, for the total eclipse in Salem, Oregon, and said the experience will stay with him forever. "That silvery ring is so hypnotic and mesmerizing, it does remind you of wizardry or like magic," he said. More than one parent was amazed to see teenagers actually look up from their cellphones. Patrick Schueck, a construction company president from Little Rock, Arkansas, brought his 10-year-old twin daughters Ava and Hayden to Bald Knob Cross of Peace in Alto Pass, Illinois, a more than 100-foot cross atop a mountain. Schueck said at first his girls weren't very interested in the eclipse. One sat looking at her iPhone. "Quickly that changed," he said. "It went from them being aloof to being in total amazement." Schueck called it a chance to "do something with my daughters that they'll remember for the rest of their lives." Astronomers, too, were giddy with excitement. NASA solar physicist Alex Young said the last time earthlings had a connection like this to the heavens was during man's first flight to the moon, on Apollo 8 in 1968. The first, famous Earthrise photo came from that mission and, like this eclipse, showed us "we are part of something bigger." NASA's acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, watched with delight from a plane flying over the Oregon coast and joked about the space-agency official next to him, "I'm about to fight this man for a window seat." Hoping to learn more about the sun's composition and the mysterious solar wind, NASA and other scientists watched and analyzed it all from the ground and the sky, including aboard the International Space Station. Citizen scientists monitored animal and plant behavior as day turned into twilight. About 7,000 people streamed into the Nashville Zoo just to see the animals' reaction and noticed how they got noisier at it got darker. The giraffes started running around crazily in circles when darkness fell, and the flamingos huddled together, though zookeepers aid it wasn't clear whether it was the eclipse or the noisy, cheering crowd that spooked them. "I didn't expect to get so emotionally caught up with it. I literally had chill bumps," said zoo volunteer Stephan Foust. In Charleston, South Carolina, the eclipse's last stop in the U.S., college junior Allie Stern, 20, said: "It was amazing. It looked like a banana peel, like a glowing banana peel which is kind of hard to describe and imagine but it was super cool." After the celestial spectacle, eclipse-watchers heading home in Tennessee and Wyoming spent hours stuck in traffic jams. In Kentucky, two women watching the eclipse while standing on a sidewalk were struck by a car, and one has died, authorities said. The Earth, moon and sun line up perfectly every one to three years, briefly turning day into night for a sliver of the planet. But these sights normally are in no man's land, like the vast Pacific or Earth's poles. This is the first eclipse of the social media era to pass through such a heavily populated area. The last coast-to-coast total eclipse in the U.S. was in 1918, when Woodrow Wilson was president. The last total solar eclipse in the U.S. was in 1979, but only five states in the Northwest experienced total darkness. The next total eclipse in the U.S. will be in 2024. The next coast-to-coast one will not be until 2045. ___ Associated Press writers Gillian Flaccus and Andrew Selsky in Salem, Oregon; Peter Banda in Casper, Wyoming; Caryn Rousseau in Chicago; Seth Borenstein in Nashville, Tennessee; Johnny Clark in Charleston, South Carolina; and Beth Harpaz in Madisonville, Tennessee, contributed to this report. https://www.yahoo.com/news/americans-stake-prime-viewing-spots-see-sun-dark-071154168.html 'A primal experience': Americans dazzled by solar eclipse Associated Press MARCIA DUNN,Associated Press 9 minutes ago Total solar eclipse crosses U.S., captivating millions Scroll back up to restore default view. The stars came out in the middle of the day, zoo animals ran in agitated circles, crickets chirped, birds fell silent and a chilly darkness settled upon the land Monday as the U.S. witnessed its first full-blown, coast-to-coast solar eclipse since World War I. Millions of Americans gazed in wonder at the cosmic spectacle, with the best seats along the so-called path of totality that raced 2,600 miles (4,200 kilometers) across the continent from Oregon to South Carolina. "It was a very primal experience," Julie Vigeland, of Portland, Oregon, said after she was moved to tears by the sight of the sun reduced to a silvery ring of light in Salem. It took 90 minutes for the shadow of the moon to travel across the country. Along that path, the moon blotted out the midday sun for about two wondrous minutes at any one place, eliciting oohs, aahs, whoops and shouts from people gathered in stadiums, parks and backyards. It was, by all accounts, the most-observed and most-photographed eclipse in history, documented by satellites and high-altitude balloons and watched on Earth through telescopes, cameras and cardboard-frame protective eyeglasses. In Boise, Idaho, where the sun was more than 99 percent blocked, the street lights flicked on briefly, while in Nashville, Tennessee, people craned their necks at the sky and knocked back longneck beers at Nudie's Honky Tonk bar. Passengers aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean watched it unfold as Bonnie Tyler sang her 1983 hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart." Several minor-league baseball teams — one of them, the Columbia Fireflies, outfitted for the day in glow-in-the-dark jerseys — briefly suspended play. At the White House, despite all the warnings from experts about the risk of eye damage, President Donald Trump took off his eclipse glasses and looked directly at the sun. The path of totality, where the sun was 100 percent obscured by the moon, was just 60 to 70 miles (96 to 113 kilometers) wide. But the rest of North America was treated to a partial eclipse, as were Central America and the upper reaches of South America. Skies were clear along most of the route, to the relief of those who feared cloud cover would spoil the moment. "Oh, God, oh, that was amazing," said Joe Dellinger, a Houston man who set up a telescope on the Capitol lawn in Jefferson City, Missouri. "That was better than any photo." For the youngest observers, it seemed like magic. "It's really, really, really, really awesome," said 9-year-old Cami Smith as she gazed at the fully eclipsed sun in Beverly Beach, Oregon. NASA reported 4.4 million people were watching its TV coverage midway through the eclipse, the biggest livestream event in the space agency's history. "It can be religious. It makes you feel insignificant, like you're just a speck in the whole scheme of things," said veteran eclipse-watcher Mike O'Leary of San Diego, who set up his camera along with among hundreds of other amateur astronomers in Casper, Wyoming. John Hays drove up from Bishop, California, for the total eclipse in Salem, Oregon, and said the experience will stay with him forever. "That silvery ring is so hypnotic and mesmerizing, it does remind you of wizardry or like magic," he said. More than one parent was amazed to see teenagers actually look up from their cellphones. Patrick Schueck, a construction company president from Little Rock, Arkansas, brought his 10-year-old twin daughters Ava and Hayden to Bald Knob Cross of Peace in Alto Pass, Illinois, a more than 100-foot cross atop a mountain. Schueck said at first his girls weren't very interested in the eclipse. One sat looking at her iPhone. "Quickly that changed," he said. "It went from them being aloof to being in total amazement." Schueck called it a chance to "do something with my daughters that they'll remember for the rest of their lives." Astronomers, too, were giddy with excitement. NASA solar physicist Alex Young said the last time earthlings had a connection like this to the heavens was during man's first flight to the moon, on Apollo 8 in 1968. The first, famous Earthrise photo came from that mission and, like this eclipse, showed us "we are part of something bigger." NASA's acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, watched with delight from a plane flying over the Oregon coast and joked about the space-agency official next to him, "I'm about to fight this man for a window seat." Hoping to learn more about the sun's composition and the mysterious solar wind, NASA and other scientists watched and analyzed it all from the ground and the sky, including aboard the International Space Station. Citizen scientists monitored animal and plant behavior as day turned into twilight. About 7,000 people streamed into the Nashville Zoo just to see the animals' reaction and noticed how they got noisier at it got darker. The giraffes started running around crazily in circles when darkness fell, and the flamingos huddled together, though zookeepers aid it wasn't clear whether it was the eclipse or the noisy, cheering crowd that spooked them. "I didn't expect to get so emotionally caught up with it. I literally had chill bumps," said zoo volunteer Stephan Foust. In Charleston, South Carolina, the eclipse's last stop in the U.S., college junior Allie Stern, 20, said: "It was amazing. It looked like a banana peel, like a glowing banana peel which is kind of hard to describe and imagine but it was super cool." After the celestial spectacle, eclipse-watchers heading home in Tennessee and Wyoming spent hours stuck in traffic jams. In Kentucky, two women watching the eclipse while standing on a sidewalk were struck by a car, and one has died, authorities said. The Earth, moon and sun line up perfectly every one to three years, briefly turning day into night for a sliver of the planet. But these sights normally are in no man's land, like the vast Pacific or Earth's poles. This is the first eclipse of the social media era to pass through such a heavily populated area. The last coast-to-coast total eclipse in the U.S. was in 1918, when Woodrow Wilson was president. The last total solar eclipse in the U.S. was in 1979, but only five states in the Northwest experienced total darkness. The next total eclipse in the U.S. will be in 2024. The next coast-to-coast one will not be until 2045. ___ Associated Press writers Gillian Flaccus and Andrew Selsky in Salem, Oregon; Peter Banda in Casper, Wyoming; Caryn Rousseau in Chicago; Seth Borenstein in Nashville, Tennessee; Johnny Clark in Charleston, South Carolina; and Beth Harpaz in Madisonville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.
Here's more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/anchors-throw-shade-eclipse-151410779.html Some anchors throw shade at eclipse Gabby Kaufman 11 hours ago Monday’s total solar eclipse captivated the nation and dominated news coverage, but not every anchor was as delighted, or even interested, as their audience. Megyn Kelly of NBC’s “Today” broached her skepticism of eclipse mania with her fellow panelists, asking, “Is the problem that the eclipse is not actually that exciting and we need to gin it up? I don’t know, I’m not sure.” Later she advised viewers not to fret if they miss the astronomical event. “You can see it on the Weather Channel. They’ll, like, tee it up, the ‘Today’ show is going to tee it up for everybody tomorrow. If you miss it today, you’ll see the perfect little thing — you don’t have to waste an hour of your day.” Related slideshow: Solar eclipse fever: Americans witness the celestial event>>> When host Savannah Guthrie warned her, half-jokingly, “There is an ejector button for that seat. We are very big on the eclipse here,” Kelly stood her ground. “I’m just saying. I’m going to watch it, but I’m not feeling what you’re feeling.” “Look, I’m going to go up to the Top of the Rock — which apparently costs 40 dollars. I’m going to watch it for those four minutes, but…” Over at Kelly’s former workplace, Fox News, Shepard Smith’s eclipse coverage was far more blatantly apathetic, as one Twitter user pointed out. Smith appeared to be energized by his disdain for the eclipse, at one point sarcastically teeing up coverage by saying, “This is Total Eclipse of the Sun Watch 2017 on Fox News channel. The excitement must be building and building, like fireworks!” The sun is obscured by the moon during a solar eclipse as seen from an Alaska Airlines commercial jet at 40,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Depoe Bay, Ore., Aug. 21, 2017. (Photo: Jim Urquhart/Reuters) He was also concerned eclipse chasers might not have known what they were in for, later asking a correspondent in the field, “They know this is all it’s going to be, right? Just a moon over a sun?” When the partial solar eclipse cast its shadow over New York City, Smith offered an incisive analysis of the changing light: “So here, it’s a little darker than usual, but it’s not, like, dark.” “According to one legend from ancient China — China,” Smith said, repeating the name of the country in order to imitate President Trump’s pronunciation, “people were scared that a dragon might eat the sun. Which, it’s always something to consider. How was it? Was it everything?” Read more from Yahoo News:
Here's more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/make-the-eclipse-experience-great-again-1503589465 LIFE IDEAS MOVING TARGETS Make the Eclipse Experience Great Again Let’s face it, 2017’s event was a bit of a dud. Wait until 2024 ILLUSTRATION: NISHANT CHOKSI By Joe Queenan Aug. 24, 2017 11:44 a.m. ET 5 COMMENTS Many people feel that Monday’s eclipse was a bit of a dud. This is particularly true if you live in a part of the country where it was overcast or you only got treated to a partial eclipse. In New York, the partial blockage was so humdrum, so generic, so blah that a lot of people didn’t even bother going outside to see it. They stayed glued to their computers where they could watch a much more exciting eclipse taking place elsewhere. This defeats the whole purpose of even having an eclipse. Monday’s event was the celestial equivalent of Super Bowl XLI in 2007, the drab set-to between the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears. Yes, it was a “Super” Bowl in the strict technical sense, but unless you were a fan of the Colts or the Bears you probably can’t even remember it. The good news is that we’ve got seven years to get things right. During the eclipse of April 8, 2024, much of the central and eastern U.S.—including cities like Dallas, Cleveland and Montpelier, Vt.—will be in the path of totality. First of all, we have to think of the majority of citizens who will get only a partial eclipse and will have to live with that fact for the rest of their lives. Not everyone can afford to drive all the way to Cleveland to experience the eclipse in its awesome totality and then humble-brag about it forever. Here’s where technology could step in. Virtual-reality helmets could create badly needed optical illusions to make a partial eclipse seem more dramatic. Or artists could create massive faux-moons that prop planes could drag across the heavens to give the illusion of a full eclipse—with large messages from corporate sponsors defraying costs. We also have seven years to develop giant, strategically positioned magnifying glasses that, suspended directly over prominent municipalities, would make it much easier to see what was going on up there. Of course, we’d have to make sure that we weren’t blinding large segments of the populace. For a truly memorable experience, we should consider sending astronauts back to the moon, to stage sound-and-light shows on the lunar surface while crossing directly in front of the sun. Colossal fireworks could sync with the eclipse to create dazzling effects in the heavens. The whole enterprise could be underwritten by some sort of national lottery. And think of the optics! Another obvious possibility is for NASA to hire the artist Christo to wrap the moon the way he and his partner Jeanne-Claude wrapped things like an Australian coastline, possibly in the artists’ trademark orange bunting. This is the kind of infrastructure project that could really get the construction industry percolating. But in the end, if eclipses are going to continue to hold the public’s attention, the biggest push has to come from Mother Nature herself. Of course, this column does not presume to advise such a powerful entity. Still, Mother Nature flubbed this one, and she probably knows that. But Mother Nature is resilient, and Mother Nature has always been full of surprises. Just ask the dinosaurs. So it’s time for her to raise the level of her game by doing something totally unexpected. Maybe get Venus involved in 2024. Maybe shove Neptune directly into our moon’s path. Maybe mix in an earthquake or two, something to truly make the eclipse experience stand out for viewers. Or maybe, just maybe, get the sun to stay dark for a while afterward before coming back with a big, brilliant flash. The fact is, if you’re a star, maybe it’s time to start acting like one.
