Look at the Moon's tail for all the space alien ships. They are there.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1712250382.jpg

[QUOTE=Steve Carlton;12226336]Unless you've seen one, you have no idea what you'd be missing. Geez- it goes right by your house...


Seen every one that was here in almost 71 years. Seen one, seen.....
We are in the 94% area.

I'll agree that seeing one takes the shine out of the next one. You've stood in the path of totality?

Traveling to Portland, OR to stay with my aunt wasn't a big lift, but I'm so glad I did it. I'm too busy and too poor to go see this one, and I believe it'll be 20 years before the next one hits the USA. Unless I hit the Lotto, then I can fly my Lear Jet to Nova Scotia.

I'm going to sacrifice a chicken to the gods of weather on Sunday night.

There is a really big difference between total solar eclipse, annular solar eclipse, or a partial eclipse. You can only see the corona during the total.

Seeing the corona will be a special delight for those in the actual path.

Yeah. And several years back I made an effort to view the Venus transit of the sun when I was visiting my mom in FL, and it ended up being cloudy. I think the next occurrence from that one is something like 76 years.

At least total eclipse isn't as rare, and much less so if you're willing to travel (especially internationally).

Yep, I'm 2 for 3 in the last 5-10 years.

Thanks. I have a mean-ass hen you can use.

I live in the path of totality.... Come for a visit Steve.... Small airport just a few miles from the house where you can land. Bring your Carly Simon CD with you. :)

So you're saying that your place is cheaper than the HI Express down the road? Sign us up! I still have two hours to cancel without a penalty...

But seriously kids, it's worth making more than a little effort to see. It is nothing like pictures or any experience of a partial or annular eclipse. I'm as far from "mystical and woo" as it comes and still it's quite a show.

Two previous ones (1991 Baja MX and 2017 Wyoming/Nebraska) for me. It'll be #2 for Mrs mjohnson and spawn - and now that our schedules are opening up we're looking for the next one wherever it might be.

If you're in a crowd during totality, turn around and get some photos of your fellow viewers - anyone can find at any time far better images of the actual sun/moon/coronae/etc but those pictures don't capture the entirety of the thing...

Steve owes me some money for some unauthorized charges he made on my credit card years ago.... :) Trying to get him within arms reach so I can collect.

August 2026, Spanish coast at what looks like sunset or midday in Iceland, fyi. Greenland as well but I'm not sure on the infrastructure up there...

Bill- what's the new expiration date for your Mastercard? I'm trying to book the flight right now.

Looks like it passes over northern Spain (Valencia near the Med) and then Reykjavik is also in the path. Cool, either one of those would probably be great spots. I'd love to go to iceland and know a few folks that have been in the past few years. I've been to Southern Spain, but would love to see the North as well.

As long as Bill's paying, you ought to fly into Valencia a few days early, charter a jet to fly from there to Reykjavik during the eclipse, and then spend a week in Iceland after.

Locally there are acting like it is the end of the world, moving outside activities, including sports practices inside, telling parents to keep their kids home for safety reasons :eek:
Think about it, when is the last time you saw a group of kids looking up, they are too busy looking at their phones. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1712269189.jpg

Sounds great! You book the flights, and include tickets for yourself and the wife. Looking forward to it!

For those of you wanting to purchase a solar filter for your camera.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002SYD2EM?maas=maas_adg_B3EB614F58B7203381A21A312 EBC5925_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas&tag=maas&_kx=HH-69sHW5Ym3_NFxojSwsnwXc51WRMuUE2mPcuJ59hc.TxGqJ5

It's getting close enough now that the weathermen feel confident for a Monday forecast.

Ours is 63 degrees and showers.....Will I need a special 'Eclipse Raincoat' along with the 'Eclipse Glasses'? :)

That's a bit cheaper than the one that I bought. WHen I bought mine (16 Mar), B&H had 4 sizes. Now it looks like they have one size. I need a 77mm. When I bought mine the 77mm was $149. They had the 82mm on clearance for $99, so I bought that an a $7 stepdown ring. Looks like I made out OK.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1333829-REG/hoya_xpd_82nd100000_pro_nd100000_solar_filter.html

Today was completely cloudless for most of central Texas. Next Thu, it's supposed to be mostly cloudless again.

The forecast for most of Texas in the path Sun, Mon, and Tue is mostly cloudy.

What you bought is a piece of glass. The amazon thingy is mylar film. No comparison, yours is way better.

We saw the one back in August, 2017 near Columbia, SC. We were at a SC State Park on a lake, wooded area. As the event approached totality, the woodland creatures and birds suddenly became silent (we noticed the silence even though we hadn't noticed their normal chatter before, it was suddenly silent). As normal daylight returned (luckily it was a sunny day) their chatter started up again, including the various insect sounds that had also quieted. One cool thing was the shadows on the ground of the sunlight shining on the leaves had crescent-shaped bites out of them as the sun returned. None of us had ever seen a total eclipse before and it was pretty cool.
There was some traffic for sure but nothing like what they are predicting for Monday.

Yep. I've got an 8" mylar filter for my Celestron.

04/08/24. see if you can get a wing seat. Duct tape section.

Went through!

SmileWavy

Waste of time and money. Wait 1 year and go to the BIG one across the entire Mediterranean with over 6 MINUTES of totality in 2027

I just picked up a Lunt Solar Wedge, I've never use a Herschel wedge before after checking it out today, I'm never going back to aluminized mylar or glass! So much cleaner view, crisp color rendition, and surface structure around sunspots was instantly visible.

It's no Coronado, but much better than a front cap filter.
https://luntsolarsystems.com/product/white-light-solar-wedges/

It's looking like I chose poorly. Watertown NY is predicted to be completely overcast tomorrow. Of course today is crystal clear. Sigh. So, I'm thinking early AM bugout east and try to enjoy it visually. No pix for me.

We have successfully MISSED the eclipse!
Just got back from Austin/San Antonio Tx. on Saturday. Our schedule didn't allow us to stay. Looking at the weather forecast, it looks iffy at best. Overcast AM/storms PM. Althought I'm a little bummed we didn't get to see it, the stress of staying out there and having storms/overcast and not seeing, and then wrestling with all the extra travellers trying to get back was a little much.

I do hope all the people who went get a break in the weather to experience it.

Austin is supposed to get over a million extra people this weekend. We were leaving just as they were coming it. The airport people were on edge. The place was getting crazy. Big road signs on the interstate regarding the influx of traffic. Our original intent was to see my uncle, who we saw, and it was a great trip. Even he said things were busy last Friday afternoon and he didn't want to get far from the house. I will tell him to stick his cell phone out his window on Monday and send me the pic. :D

Interesting! So that puts the protection way down on your diagonal. I'd read somewhere that it was better to have the protection at the front of the scope because having the full sun going through your scope could cause issues due to heat affecting internal components.
Pfffft! Most of Texas, Uvalde to Dallas is predicting overcast with rain at the time of the eclipse. Actually, Dallas isn't too bad with only 75% cloud coverage. This sucks. And the missus made it an event, so we rented an AirBNB. And she caught something when we were with the grandkids this past week and feels horrible. I might drive out tomorrow on the off chance that there's a break in the clouds at the right time and place. It's only a 1.75 hour drive. Dallas would be 4 hours each way. I'm not going to drive for 8-9 hours on the off chance that I might be able to see it. I'm bummed, but c'est la vie.
Yeah, If the forecast was for crystal clear skies on Mon, that might make some extra hassle warranted, but with the current forecast, I don't see a lot of point in dealing with a ton of crap.

In the 94% area here. Friday the forecast was afternoon showers for Monday.
Saturday, they said cloudy for Monday pm.
Now, the forecast is for full sun Monday pm.

All forecasts are subject to change.:)

94% is like 10% compared to totality. Fill up the Civic and go!

With my luck, I'd end up in a cloudy area and see nothing. At least here it will get semi-dark for a few minutes.:)

We will get 99% in Columbus, OH. I could get 100% by driving 20 miles north, but…meh. Supposed to be cloudy, and I don’t want to be on the roads with a bunch of….lunatics 😁

Total here for 4 minutes, I heard. In the past I would not have given it a second thought but being retired it will entertain me for a bit. I just bought the cheap glasses though. Weather is going to be good, they say.

I have experienced several eclipses in my life. Every one was a nothing burger. I am one of those who is absolutely not excited about this.

Go into your room, draw the curtains, and turn off the lights. Voilà!

^^^ I spent the better part of the day today getting the pond ready for the turtles and fish.
Takes about 4 hrs to fill and then adding the pump and filters back in adds another hour.

The turtles have never seen an eclipse..I'll have them back in the pond by tomorrow.
I can't deny them.:D

https://img.freepik.com/premium-phot...574545-997.jpg