Solar eclipse

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I can't wait....I've got my eye protection all set.

Our boomeresque house sitter, a full and proud ex(?) hippie, told us of a huge bluegrass meetup/rally/whatever in CO on the eighth. Can you imagine thousands of mellow folk just staring at the sun? As in, they remembered the pharms but forgot the funny glasses...

2017 in northwest Nebraska/SE Wyoming was an experience, as in >>6h to get from Cheyenne to Denver on I25. I can't even picture what this will turn into in the more populated places. To outsiders the various cities' emergency declarations may seem silly - but in reality I bet it's only slightly overboard. This thing is getting hyped as one might expect nowadays.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

You may look at the sun at the point of totality without filter and be fine. Anytime other than totality you must use a filter.

I suppose you can try to look at the sun at the point of totality, but all you’ll see is the moon.

[Sooner or later]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I suppose you can try to look at the sun at the point of totality, but all you’ll see is the moon.

At that time if you are drinking a Corona you will see the corona!

[Superman]

I have a question for which I may not get an answer or maybe there is no clear answer. What if the sky is cloudy or mostly cloudy at the time of totality? Would it still be worth seeing? I am considering driving 4400 miles (round trip) to see this eclipse in Texas, and the forecast is "mostly cloudy with 30% chance of rain."

[1990C4S]

I would not drive any distance to sit in four minutes of darkness on a cloudy day.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Superman

I have a question for which I may not get an answer or maybe there is no clear answer. What if the sky is cloudy or mostly cloudy at the time of totality? Would it still be worth seeing? I am considering driving 4400 miles (round trip) to see this eclipse in Texas, and the forecast is "mostly cloudy with 30% chance of rain."

Yep, the forecast from Dallas to San Antonio is "mostly cloudy" and I'm seriously bummed about it. My plan had been to drive to wherever the weather was best, but the wife insisted upon getting a place to arrive Sun, stay Mon, and then leave Tue. So now we've spent money and are likely to have a cloudy/rainy mini-vacation.

Last Oct, we drove to San Antonio and the clouds cleared for the annular eclipse. I think we drove ~1.5-2 hours for that.

I'm hoping that we get something similar next Mon. Otherwise, I assume it'll just get dark as if it was night, and then brighten back up, but nothing interesting to see.

No way in hell I'd make a huge drive for it. If you're driving that far, maybe drive to another location that isn't forecast for clouds?

[Superman]

Thx, Steve. We have accommodations lined up for San Antonio, but we have cloudy darkness almost every day right here without six days of driving.

Shucks. I want to see totality. Wish I had known how special that is when it was nearby in 2017.

Next totality: August 2026 in Spain. Don't tell anybody.

[1990C4S]

Rent a jet.

[mattdavis11]

I'm not going to drive 30 minutes to see totality, and I'm already in San Antonio (work).

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by mattdavis11

I'm not going to drive 30 minutes to see totality, and I'm already in San Antonio (work).

That there is a hot take if I ever saw one! Yee Haw!

[oldE]

Never understood why people get so excited about it getting dark in the middle of the day. It happens fairly frequently in one place or another.
The only time I bothered was while the truck I had was waiting to be repaired. I did the old 'pencil hole in a sheet of cardboard to make a camera obscura '. Yep, the moon passed between us and the sun, again.

Best
Les

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

i suppose you can try to look at the sun at the point of totality, but all you’ll see is the moon.

:d

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by oldE

Never understood why people get so excited about it getting dark in the middle of the day. It happens fairly frequently in one place or another.
The only time I bothered was while the truck I had was waiting to be repaired. I did the old 'pencil hole in a sheet of cardboard to make a camera obscura '. Yep, the moon passed between us and the sun, again.

Best
Les

Look at Mr. Rich Guy over here, with his extra cardboard so worthless that he can poke holes in it...

You use the term "fairly frequently" quite liberally. Is once every 18 months "fairly frequently" to you?

[flatbutt]

The weather is starting to freak people out a bit. I chose Watertown NY because it's not a terribly long drive and the forecast looked good. Now they're saying "Meh". I may need to bugout to the East early Monday. Oh well.

[Steve Carlton]

I've only seen this once in my life, and it was awesome. A partial eclipse- no comparison. It's the most dramatic and eerie celestial event that can be seen with the naked eye, and it's everywhere around you. For me, the 2017 eclipse was a life event.





An incredible companion is the shadows before/after totality.

[Tobra]

120th anniversary of Crowley founding Thelema, his own religion, falls on the day of the eclipse

The shadows are cool

[wdfifteen]

Overnight accommodations for the 7,8,9th in Ohio are sold out. Some people booked rooms a year ago.
It really is something to experience, but I wouldn't big plans to travel far for it. The weather is too unreliable. Imagine flying in from PWN to Ohio, renting a room, etc only to sit under a roof watching a thunderstorm.

[911_Dude]

I love a good eclipse. But this one seems way over hyped to me. Some schools closing, some towns declaring an emergency, WTF? Used to be unless you were a science nerd no one really paid much attention. Now every news outlet is pumping out clickbait eclipse stories and folks are loosing their minds over it.

[stevej37]

I'll be happy to trade the eclipse on Monday for a full sunny day.

I'll watch it on the news in the evening.

[Steve Carlton]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I'll be happy to trade the eclipse on Monday for a full sunny day.

I'll watch it on the news in the evening.

Unless you've seen one, you have no idea what you'd be missing. Geez- it goes right by your house...