Eclipse mania

[tree-farmer]

Our area is expecting heavy traffic / gridlock for tomorrow. My home is in 99.97 area of totality so we are staying put, even took  the day off from my job. I've learned to never under estimate the stupidity of large crowds of people, so watching from here on mountain seems the best option.
Rather be home, than stuck out on road trying to get home in the traffic mess they are calling for.
Just wondered what others are doing. Ignoring, watching it in place or traveling?
Will be watching to see if  chickens go to roost for short night.

[gspren]

  My area is 80% and I'm not driving anywhere to see it. My recliner has a good view of the TV so that's where I'll watch from. Lots of people will travel long distances and then have their view messed up by clouds, the news will get some good views.

[samandothers]

Gonna be satisfied with what we see here in Charlotte. 

[Roxie]

I'm really surprised at the number of people that I know, who have planned their vacations around ending up in Western North Carolina.  It's gonna be crowded down there.   :D

[Chuck White]

Imagine this;  One of the most densely populated areas in the United States will be directly under the Total Eclipse, from coast to coast!   ;)

That population could (in theory anyway) hold hands from the Pacific to the Atlantic!

[Corley5]

75% coverage around here but it sounds like it might rain ;D

[Don P]

I guess I'll throw a few welding helmets in the truck, we'll be in the 90+% zone.
It must have been a partial in the early 70's, but a pretty good one. Grandad had made a couple of pinhole scopes that we could view it through. I remember the chickens did roost, birds made their night sounds, there was a good breeze that kicked up. Pretty neat.

[Chris Burchfield]

Someone purchased bogus eclipse glasses for gdaughter's whole school.  They were from an overseas scam.  Her school notified parents Thursday evening via email school would be closed Monday.  Friday dropped gdaughter at school drove eight miles to American Paper Optics in Bartlett TN.  Stood in a revolving line of about 70 people.  Bought 25 pair @ $3.ea, drove straight back to school dropped 21 pair for teacher, aid and each 5th grade student in gdaughter's class.  Sent text to teacher and principle of the certified pairs I'd dropped off so solar glasses could go home with each student that day.  I figure something this significant in these little peoples live should end in a good way. From an educational view, I may be helping to create one or more scientist. I won't go into detail of how much I hate and despise a thief, cheat the same. 
Local Type:  Partial Solar Eclipse, in Memphis
Begins:  Mon, Aug 21, 2017 at 11:52 am
Maximum:  Mon, Aug 21, 2017 at 1:22 pm 0.94 Magnitude
Ends:  Mon, Aug 21, 2017 at 2:50 pm
Duration:  2 hours, 58 minutes

[Magicman]

I think that my helmet has a shade 10 glass, and google searches seem to be recommending a 12 - 14. 

If it is not raining I think a hole punched in the end of a shoe box will work just fine.

[rjwoelk]

We are to get a partial eclipse were I live.  The total  one will be a long time way away. 27 years from now I will be 88, and it will be only 4 hrs away for the centre.

[Dan_Shade]

I'm one of the crazies this time, we're headed to South Carolina for the show.

Hoping for nice weather.

I saw a clip for using a cereal box for a pinhole viewer, I tried it yesterday, worked great.

[21incher]

They are saying the power grid will take a hit due to the loss of output from solar farms during peak air-conditioning hours.

[Kbeitz]

I think it was back in the 60's maybe 70's I was just a kid riding my bike. I was in town.
It started getting darker and darker... I pedaled my bike harder and harder. The street
lights came on. I looked at my watched and said to myself I guess it's broken. I got home
and I was by my self. I watched some TV and looked out and the sun was shining. I sure
was puzzled. I never knew.

[WV Sawmiller]

   My daughter in Charlotte NC will get a great view of it. My BIL and his daughter are at Yellowstone and also getting a great view if not crowded out of the park by other tourists. My local grandkids go to school in next county. The 6th grader class has glasses and are going out to watch about 1430. The 4th grader class is watching it on TV. Not sure what the kindergartner is doing or if she will even notice.

   Our home county is scared some kid will look at get an eye injury so they are closing school early and sending all the kids home to avoid any responsibility and potential law suits (I know - its a sad state of affairs).

   On a side note, I got to meet Little Jimmy Dickins niece at the flea market this morning. She was there with Jimmy's sister who I saw but did not meet.

[Sixacresand]

A guy at Church said he was driving up to North Georgia tomorrow for it .  We plan to plan to experience the event from our front porch maybe during a ice tea break.

[thecfarm]

On this side of the USA,not a great viewing. I will be working.

[Mooseherder]

I've heard from some news reporting where 100 million people are within 200 miles of seeing it if they want to experience the event.

[btulloh]

It's supposed to be 89% here.  It'll be interesting. 

By the way,  I read that 14 shade is the minimum for welding helmets/goggles.  It was stated as a fact.  Just what I read.  Facts can be fuzzy these days.  It's not something to take chances with though.  The old pinhole trick is always available. 

I've got a 10 shade welding helmet, 5 shade goggles for the torch.  The torch google have single piece removable lens, and I think that adding that to the helmet with the ten shade will work.  ????  The auto-darkening helmet I have goes to 13.  I don't know that it would trigger for eclipse viewing anyway.  Perhaps use test mode, but it only goes to 13 anyway.

In any event, it's going to be interesting. 

Everyone enjoy the eclipse and keep your eyeballs intact.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

I will watch it through my I-Phone.

Just be sure you wear eye protection.


 

[Peter Drouin]

I'll be making lumber, I'll see it on the news for a week. :D

[grouch]

NASA seems like a good way to watch.

nasa eclipse search

Probably catch it via NASA's C-band or Ku FTA satellite feeds, too. (Sorry, forgot which sat, etc., they're on. Will check my receiver).

[Edit to add]:

Ok, in an eclipse satellite feeds discussion, "Mike" posted:

91w 12074 v 7000
NASA Kentucky

Several other feeds posted, too.

[Corley5]

I've heard that cameras and phones can be damaged too :-\ :-\

[Brucer]

Definitely has to be shade 14 welding lenses. There are no pain sensors in your retina. If you use a lower shade lens you could seriously damage your eyes and not know it until a couple of days later. Shade 12 will give you a false sense of security.

The number of viewers (mentioned in an article a couple of months back) was 200 million people within a day's drive of totality.

We're going to be at 88% tomorrow at the peak. It will still be pretty light out, but still interesting. The one thing you can only see in a total eclipse is the sunlight passing through the mountain valleys on the moon just before totality.

[grouch]

Attached map is from NASA's 2017 eclipse downloadables page.

Looks like I'm in the area for about 99%.

[red]

An eclipse , today ?  I didn't hear about it . . .

[DanG]

Well I think the government should schedule these solar eclipse events at night to avoid all of these hazards. It wouldn't impact everyone's work and school days either. :new_year:

[WV Sawmiller]

 :D :D

    Reminds me of the old joke about the ____ astronauts who were going on a mission to the sun. Someone asked if it wouldn't be too hot and they said that was why they were going at night.

[Raider Bill]

My place in tenn is ground zero. Of course I'm in Florida. :

[Woodcutter_Mo]

 I'm a ways South of the Totality line so I doubt it will get crowded here. I think we'll be at about .97 according to the map.

[Brucer]

Well I think the government should schedule these solar eclipse events at night to avoid all of these hazards.

Exactly. The Russians scheduled this one for night time, the Chinese schedule it for night time, all of Europe and all of Africa did as well. How come the US and Canada can't do the same?

:D :D

[Savannahdan]

One of my daughters has 10 pair of the NSA approved viewing glasses and I made 2 pinhole cereal box viewers this morning and tested them with the sun.  Ain't so good when you have to look at that tiny view with reading glasses but it works.  We'll head over to our church around 2:14p and get a viewing spot.  The rain forecast isn't great but you never know.  We have around a 98% total eclipse factor for Savannah.

[rjwoelk]

Ok so all you folks need to get your critters eyes protected.


 

[BradMarks]

Just about to begin first phase. 99.36 totality is what they say. About one hour away. 1979 my last one - had to take a break planting trees - too dark to see if the roots were straight!

[btulloh]

Those mule glasses are nice.  8)  Maybe we better find out why you have them around.  :D

Binoculars will project a really good eclipse image.  Big end toward sun.  Cover one lens, make a shroud to go around the open lens to cast bigger shadow.  Works better with a mount, but ok hand-held or without a shroud.  Better than looking at pin-hole projection with reading glasses.

I rigged up a spotting scope set at 20x since it fits the tripod.  A little too sensitive to angles, but ok.

[grouch]

NASA tv coverage has begun.

Galaxy 13, 127.0W 3920MHz V 28065Ks
SID:101 has talking plus switches among live images (Carbondale, IL, Salem, OR and Madras, OR)
SID:103 is live image

[Banjo picker]

Just checked.  Its started.  Banjoists

[sawguy21]

I guess we are too far north, I really can't see any change in the amount of light except for smoke. This phenomenon must have had the superstitious ancients scared silly, the few that had an idea of what was going on would have made some serious coin. ;D

[Banjo picker]

There doesnt seem to be any difference in the sunlight here yet and its now half covered.  I am in Boaz Ky.  It should be dark here in around a half hour.  Banjo

[grouch]

Appears to be about 1/3 covered, here, and the light just looks wrong. North of Bowling Green, KY.

[bigred1951]

Morehead ky the light outside looks funny but still daylight

[Banjo picker]

Sun is coming back now.  We were fortunate that clouds didn't cause problems.   That was pretty neat.  Got dark for a minute or so...could see some planets.  Banjo

[grouch]

Never got dark here, but was noticeably dimmer. I went out to my barn to work on the tractor and couldn't see to do anything (no lights in the barn). I could see fine a couple of hours ago. Walked back and the sun didn't burn. Shadows of leaves were crescent shape.

[Edit to add photos]

[yukon cornelius]

We survived the eclipse  ;D

[btulloh]

Interesting.  86% here.  Dim but certainly not dark.  Birds knocked off.  Only the Peterbilts could be heard in the distance.  Not bad.  Hope all you 100%ers survived. 



  


 

[grouch]

We survived the eclipse  ;D

Do you have proof?

[Savannahdan]

We're getting rain and have lots of cloud coverage.  Oldest daughter went to Charleston, SC and got some nice pictures she took.  Disappointed in that I wanted to try the pinhole viewers and taking pictures using a cd disk.  I was also going to take a picture through a viewing glass lense.  Although I have to admit to picking up 2 dozen of Krispy Kreme eclipse special donuts.  Shared those with some of the folks at the viewing site and they were very pleased.  Watched folks on top of the hospital near us rush to leave it due to rain getting heavier.  Saw a picture of one of my brothers laying on the ground with his viewing glasses on.  He is in Southeast Missouri.  He had back surgery a few years ago and can't raise his head like we can.  So he opted to lay down. 

[Kbeitz]

My best shot.... It's not to good. Most of my shots was a big blur. The camera
could not focus on the sun.



 

I liked this shot.



 

Most of them looked like this...



 

[rjwoelk]

Those mule glasses are nice.  8)  Maybe we better find out why you have them around.

Itsa new version of blinders for training skiddish logging mules. :D

[tree-farmer]

Well we got to see it, kind of iffy for a while with passing clouds.  Was not dark long enough for chickens to roost. I'm gonna see if there is a maket for "eclipse eggs" :D
The katydid's started chirping while it was at the darkest. Was a fun thing to share with wife, at our age you take your thrills where you can find them.
Still scratching my head and chuckling over the mule blinders ???

[Don P]

we went up to the Big House where I'm working and they had laid out a spread. We feasted and watched it get twighlighty and looked up with a pair of glasses, a set of doubled up welding lenses and a pinhole box. It cooled off considerably which was nice, the cows came out from the shade and started grazing the pasture like it was evening, the peepers and insects made evening noise. Pretty neat, we should have one every hot summer afternoon.

[Woodcutter_Mo]

 At work we went outside and checked it out. It did cool off quite a bit and my buddy's girlfriend called him and said their chickens did their evening routine and went to the roost  :D.
It didn't get near as dark as I was expecting but it was neat to get to be able to see.
We looked for something with holes in it to cast a shadow, found a piece of steel with holes in it. Not the best pic but you can see the crescent shapes.

[goose63]

Was cloudy here all day so i had my nap seen one in 79 so no big deal for me

[wesdor]

We have planned to be in St Louis to babysit our 20 month old grandson and made a big event of it with our son in law. This was the first time I've actually witnessed totality and was very impressed. I never fail to be amazed at this incredible world in which we live.

[yukon cornelius]

We survived the eclipse  ;D

Do you have proof?

I may be wrong. I am lobster red sunburnt with a white stripe across my eyes.  :D

[btulloh]

. . . . almost total darkness here now.  .  . . . . eerie.

[Al_Smith]

I used my welding hood,number 11 glass with a pair of sunglasses which was probably about 12 total or more .Worked fine .

[caveman]

My parents drove up to their place in Franklin, N.C. to view the eclipse.  My mother kept me updated with texts and then later my dad sent a much longer one that I took a screen shot (3) to share with any who care to read it.  I found it amusing.

  

  

  

 

My mother reported that cicadas got cranked up as the eclipse began and when it got totally dark where they were the coyotes started howling.  In Lakeland, where I live, it got a little cooler and noticeably dimmer.  I took a few pics through my welding hood but they did not show what I could see when looking through protective lenses.

[tmarch]

Nice nap break here, hey if it's dark time to sleep. :D

[Delawhere Jack]

8:30am EST. Heading out on a side work job. Didn't want to take any chances....



 

[Roxie]

. . . . almost total darkness here now.  .  . . . . eerie.

:D :D

[btulloh]

Grouch, those pictures of the crescent shaped shadows are interesting.

[grouch]

I had forgotten about shadows like that and doubted my eyes for a while.

Is this caused by changing from a disc light source to a crescent one, or is it more like a pinhole effect, by the leaves, and those shadows are actually projected images of the eclipse? The latter doesn't seem very likely, to me.

[50 Acre Jim]

I'm 13 miles west of Franklin and we got totality.  Sitting in the sun, watching the eclipse through our special glasses. And then suddenly... it was dark! So very cool!   Had to use flash to get the second picture. 

[sandhills]

My inlaws and I watched it and the first thing noticed was the temp change then my wife and I were walking back to the vet clinic she works at and saw the exact shadows you pictured Grouch, I was wondering the same.  We were probably around 98%  ???  It is an eerie darkness but just got dark enough to make the street lights turn on here.

[Dan_Shade]

We parked at the parking lot of South Carolina University Stadium, had clear skies for the totality.

Had a good view of the diamond ring and a great view of the corona, which was larger than I expected. I noticed the shadow waves before totality as well, and sun set colors all around the horizon. Pretty amazing sight.  Even saw a bat fly out.

Then we sat in traffic for 8 hours.

[Roxie]

I like your photos, 50 Acre Jim.   

Here we had 80%, and it was dim enough at 2:45 PM that my portulaca, closed and stayed closed until this morning.  You know you are living life on the wild side, when flowers closing is the highlight of your day.

We were going to watch through a welding helmet, but my Amish neighbor showed up to ask if he could borrow it, "for the children."  No way I could say no after seeing the excitement on their faces. 

[Banjo picker]

Deb and I drove up to a friends house in Boaz Ky. to see the darkness.  It was our first chance to see one.  It was on the bucket list, so we got that done.  The lady whose house we were out, son came in for the event as well and he brought a drone. He flew the drone up and it hovered and videoed here back yard while it was going on.   I got a video of it on my phone from where he on line, but cant get it on the forum.  I tried last night.  All those who have been around here for a while know how difficult tech. stuff is for me.  If I get somebody here that can do it I will post the video the drone made.  He put it in time lasp so it only takes about 10 seconds to see it go form light to dark and back to light again.  I can usually get pictures on the forum straight from my phone, but when I went to get the video, I couldn't find it.  When I just want to look at it on the phone its right there.  Oh well.  Banjo

[Magicman]

You have to upload it to YouTube and then post the link.  If you do not have one, it is easy to open a YouTube account.

[Carson-saws]

 

  

  Epic!!!!

[Brucer]

Unfortunately, a lot of people decided it was safe to take off their viewing glasses during totality when only the corona was visible. Big mistake.

Most of the visible light from the sun comes from the surface. If we look directly at it the light overloads our vision systems and it feels very uncomfortable. So we don't look.

There is much less visible light in the corona so with the surface of the sun blocked by the moon, it doesn't make us feel uncomfortable looking at the corona. However, the corona is where most of the sun's UV comes from.

Since the retina has no pain sensors, looking directly at the corona for more than 1/4 second or so won't feel uncomfortable but it will do a lot of permanent damage.

Symptoms to watch for:
- washed out colour. Things that usually look like they are brightly coloured will look much paler than you expect.
- trouble focusing on things. Looking directly at the corona burns small spots on the retina so things don't look entirely clear no matter how much your eyes try to focus on them.

The good news -- small amounts of damage can heal over time. The bad news -- some of the damage will be permanent. Exposing the eye to intense UV will also lead to cataracts later in life.

[Ljohnsaw]

Re: welding glass.  What I read in various places is that welding (at 1-3 ft) produces a greater amount of light and much more UV than the sun.  I have weld-burns that I think prove that. :  The internet (that I read) stated you needed at least shade 12 but 14 would be better.  The weld shop by me "said" they sold over 2,000 lenses in the last 2 weeks.  They only had 11s left.  Since my two helmets had 10s (one was pitted), I picked up a pair of 11s and used those.

We drove up Saturday to Catfish Junction on the Snake River in Oregon (9 hour drive (80mph limit for more than half the drive)) and camped with some internet friends.  Had a great time.  We were about 99.9% totality - about 15 miles south of the center but still had 2 minutes+ of darkness.  Will try to get my son's video of the darkness descending.

The temperature started dropping at about 25%, the wind picked up and it was great.  The shadows became very sharp - like someone set the contrast up to max.  Did not expect it to get so cold (about 15° drop in temp).  Everyone started howling when it went totally dark.

The tree shadows:

 

What I saw (with the camera) through the welding glass:

 

A funny sign made by punching holes in some paper:

  

As seen through someone's fancy telescope.  After the eclipse we could see some really cool sunspots!

  

Totality!  This was taken by my son with his cheap Nikon point and shoot:

  

Sign after the eclipse:

 

We (my son and I) both agreed that driving 460 miles was worth it but probably wouldn't do it again.  The eclipse that is going to occur in 7 years is supposed to go from Mexico to Maine.  Then in 2054 another is supposed to do a route from the south west to the north east.  Not sure if I will be around for that one!

We had an eclipse nut (this was his 5th - they occur about every 18 months) next to us in camp - he drove out (because he had family) from Ontario Canada.  He said at the last one he went to, a woman had witnessed 23!!!

[grouch]

Unfortunately, a lot of people decided it was safe to take off their viewing glasses during totality when only the corona was visible. Big mistake.

[snip]

NASA proclaimed it safe to view the eclipse during the short time of totality with the naked eye. They also warned that anyone outside the track of totality should NOT view it with the naked eye.

Is it true that you should not look at the sun even during a total solar eclipse?

There is a misunderstanding being circulated that during a total solar eclipse when the moon has fully blocked the light from the sun, that there are still harmful 'rays' that can injure your eyes.  This is completely false. When the bright photosphere of the sun is completely covered, only the faint light from the corona is visible, and this radiation is too weak to have any harmful effects on the human retina. 
The misunderstanding comes about because of using the general term 'solar eclipse' to describe both the total phase when the sun disk is completely blocked, and the minutes before and after totality when there is still some of the sun's disk visible. It is harmful to view even a sliver of the sun disk because of its intensity, and so to simply say that you should not view a solar eclipse is rather inaccurate.

The rest of NASA's eclipse FAQ is still available at this time.

[doctorb]

We gazed in Idaho, and it was glorious.  Loved all the schlock surrounding the event.

Best t-shirt:   

"Totality Worth It"


Best Restaurant Sign: 

"Total Bar
Total Bar-B-Cue
Total Eclipse"