The Solar Eclipse

[masraum]

Originally Posted by abisel

I set-up my spotting scope and used it as a projector projecting the image onto a piece of white paper and took a picture with my DSLR. It ain't perfect and needs some tweaking to get a more circular image. You can see some sun spots in the picture.

Nice, that's basically the view that I saw today with the solar binoculars that I ordered a little while ago (but the binoculars were a clearer view).

[tevake]

A bunch of friends and I met on the Big Island years ago for a total eclipse.
It was mostly clouded over, bummer for many who had traveled from all over to experence it. But with local knowledge and some luck we were in a good spot for it.

A pretty cosmic experence, I especially remember the sounds of the birds, dogs etc.
The critters were kind of freaked out by dark coming in the middle of the day.

Funny how differently folks think about this, some travel the lengths of the earth whenever one is going to happen. Others won't bother to step outside to check it out.
My brother said the same thing but he is well out the path of totality. Doesn't want to risk his eyes.

Good luck viewing for those in the path.

Cheers Richard

[Chocaholic]

I'll be on a plane flying from Atlanta to So Cal. Hope it doesn't take out the computers like it did during Y2K. Oh, wait...never mind.

[Geary]

The 5-day eclipse festival in Madras could have a disappointing finale (but I may still drive the camper up to John Day myself).

Oregon wildfire spreads in prime eclipse-viewing area - CNN
Oregon wildfire causes evacuations in prime eclipse zone - ABC News

[Scott Douglas]

I can remember as a kid back in the '60's when there was an eclipse. We put a piece of aluminum foil over the end of a big long tube made out of heavy cardboard material. Stuck a pin hole in the aluminum foil and projected the image on the ground. Kind of a pinhole camera, without the film.
Worked pretty good and we didn't risk our eyesight.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by abisel

I set-up my spotting scope and used it as a projector projecting the image onto a piece of white paper and took a picture with my DSLR. It ain't perfect and needs some tweaking to get a more circular image. You can see some sun spots in the picture.

just did an equipment check with the 90mm Mak Cass and this is exactly what I saw, a bit rounder tho I'm glad you posted and verified the chain of sunspots. If anyone is interested the Mak Cass is f 13.8 and FL 1250. I'm using an Astrozap Baader aperture filter. The eyepiece is a 32mm Plossel and the suns' disk fits nicely inside the FoV. I'll be able to visualize the entire ring.

[masraum]

This is the view today.

We've got 2 new spots creeping around the limb on the left. With my binoculars, I'm able to see the left most of the central group as one large dark spot and I can also see the two very small faint spots just to the right of that and the rest of the stuff in that central group, just in case anyone was curious what you can see through 10x42 binoculars. (these are solar specific binoculars that have permanently built in solar filters, so they are safe for viewing the sun, but are only good for the sun. It wasn't a bad deal at $60.

[abisel]

Originally Posted by masraum

This is the view today.

We've got 2 new spots creeping around the limb on the left. With my binoculars, I'm able to see the left most of the central group as one large dark spot and I can also see the two very small faint spots just to the right of that and the rest of the stuff in that central group, just in case anyone was curious what you can see through 10x42 binoculars. (these are solar specific binoculars that have permanently built in solar filters, so they are safe for viewing the sun, but are only good for the sun. It wasn't a bad deal at $60.

That is cool! What did you use to get the picture? adapter? camera?

[GG Allin]

It might be cloudy here tomorrow.

86.6% coverage here in Chicago. There was an annular eclipse here back in 1994 (hard to believe it was that long ago) that pretty much passed right over us. That one was closer to 90%. So I suppose tomorrow won't be much different than that.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_May_10,_1994

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by dad911

Might look cool from an airplane?

I think watching it come in from an airplane should emphasize the difference between totality and non totality.

In the shadow vs not in the shadow.

[Tervuren]

Heres a nice 360 vid. Is that how it looked when you saw it sammy?

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

I'm trying to find out if there's anything you can put over the large end of a pair of binoculars and look at it safely. Anyone know?

Not sure what will fit over your binoculars but welding goggles are safe for looking at the eclipse. I just bought several pairs at Home Depot for my co-workers.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by abisel

That is cool! What did you use to get the picture? adapter? camera?

I can't take the credit for that pic, it's all NASA.

https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/realtime-update-1280.html

They also have some other cool options including movies of the last 48 hours.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Tidybuoy

Not sure what will fit over your binoculars but welding goggles are safe for looking at the eclipse. I just bought several pairs at Home Depot for my co-workers.

Only if the are #14 or higher

[widebody911]

[intakexhaust]

CNN - Clown News Network reports that your pets eyes TOO can be damaged while watching the eclipse spectacle.

Woof Blitzed

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by Tervuren

Heres a nice 360 vid. Is that how it looked when you saw it sammy?

I don't think that vid quite captured it. Neither one of those round things look like an eclipse to me.

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

I've seen eclipses before.
I've tried to get excited about this one. I really have. I've tried to convince myself it was important, that it was somehow a big deal.

So far no joy.

Translation: "Not available in my area."

Bwahahaha!

Man up and watch it on TV tonight, dude!

[black_falcon]

The Atlantic Claims Monday's Solar Eclipse Is Racist | Daily Wire

Essayist professor says that the solar system has an "implicit bias" against African-Americans

On August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will arrive mid-morning on the coast of Oregon. It has been dubbed the Great American Eclipse, and along most of its path, there live almost no black people. Presumably, this is not explained by the implicit bias of the solar system.

Oregon, where this begins, is almost entirely white. The 10 percent or so of state residents who do not identify as white are predominantly Latino, American Indian, Alaskan, or Asian. There are very few black Oregonians.

From Oregon, the Great American Eclipse will travel through Idaho and Wyoming. (It will catch a tiny unpopulated piece of Montana, too.) Percentage-wise, Idaho and Wyoming are even whiter than Oregon. And as in Oregon, but even more so, the few non-white residents of Idaho and Wyoming are not black — they are mostly Latino, American Indian, and Alaskan.

The total eclipse will be visible from Lincoln, Nebraska, the state’s capital, which reports a black population of 3.8 percent. The city of Omaha has a greater black population, about 14 percent. It is home to many of the refugees from Africa and elsewhere that Nebraska has welcomed in recent years, many of whom now work in slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants. But Omaha is about 50 miles northeast of the path of totality.

[widebody911]