2017 solar eclipse: thoughts?

[Baby Gary]

I am about 3-4 hours outside of totality. I would liked to have gone but traffic... I was in the 94% range and I was minorly disappointed. I was expecting it to be WAY darker than it was and I personally think it was minorly overhyped. I was not in totality so I don't know what it was like there but hope that it was way better and worth it. It definitely was interesting but not as much as I had thought.

[2D8HP]

The last one ('92?) was more impressive because it was sunny.

This time the morning fog made the eclipse not noticeable, and I took the day off work and got glasses with my son to prepare.

:frown:

[Bartmanhomer]

I watch the Ecplise on YouTube. It's better than see it in person.

[AdmiralCheez]

I was in totality, and it did get dark. Like night time, with sunsets all across the horizon. Partial eclipses are never as dramatic, but still neat.

[Velaryon]

I was quite disappointed. Where I live is in ~90% totality, but I couldn't see hardly anything because it was so overcast (we had a thunderstorm in the morning). I went outside on my lunch break, which was during the time of greatest coverage, and by the time the sun peeked out from the clouds, it wasn't blocked very much by the moon anymore. Also, my eclipse sunglasses were so very nearly opaque that I couldn't see the sun at all while wearing them.

However, while other librarians I know got really sick of people asking us for eclipse glasses, I was glad to see society as a whole taking an interest in something science-related for once.

[Red Fel]

I felt the pacing was awful and rushed, the plot was derivative, and the acting was sub-par at best. I will probably not watch the re-runs.

But yeah. I lived just a bit outside of totality; sky was slightly dimmer, but otherwise the only clue that there was actually an eclipse was (1) if you had any kind of eclipse-viewing device, or (2) the (small) clusters of people in parks using eclipse-viewing devices.

[Dr.Samurai]

We were working in our makeshift field office on the construction site. The twenty second floor. Suddenly, it gets noticeably darker and rather quiet for NYC (cooling towers aren't on yet so we keep all the windows open for air). We go to look outside and it's like a scene out of a horror movie. Massive crowds in the streets below, not moving, not speaking, just all staring en masse up to the sky. My gaze looks up, and people are all quietly staring up to the sky on terraces, balconies, rooftops. I just backed away from the window slowly and went back to work lol.

[scalyfreak]

I was in totality, and it did get dark. Like night time, with sunsets all across the horizon. Partial eclipses are never as dramatic, but still neat.

Dark, and chilly! It was pretty awesome though. Good experience and I'm glad I went.

More than one person told us ahead of time, that outside the totality it will not be impressive and from comparing right before and right after totality, I can easily believe it.

Even 99.5% instead of 100% was such a huge difference, that I would not be surprised if everyone who was outside the totality feel a bit ripped off. The sun is so very bright that the last fraction o fa percent really does make a big difference.

[obryn]

I am about 3-4 hours outside of totality. I would liked to have gone but traffic... I was in the 94% range and I was minorly disappointed. I was expecting it to be WAY darker than it was and I personally think it was minorly overhyped. I was not in totality so I don't know what it was like there but hope that it was way better and worth it. It definitely was interesting but not as much as I had thought.
The difference between 94% and 100% is the difference between ... well, not to put too fine a point on it, night and day.

It's not just a quantitative difference, it's a qualitative one. If you're at 94%, you'll get some small weird things, like crescent shadows under trees and maybe a noticeable dimming in light. But you really need eclipse glasses to see anything; there's no key part of the event that will take your breath away.

In the totality, though ... Well, it's an experience that basically needs to be had in person. You can get pictures and videos, but experiencing it is just sublime. There's no big changes until the last minutes before totality; that's when the world starts to get dim, the colors begin to look saturated, and animals all get confused - for us, the cicadas started singing around the 98% mark. In the instants before and after totality, strange shadows rush across the ground in waves - I've been told this is from the small variations on the moon's surface; its craters and hills casting long shadows. During the totality itself, you just take your glasses off and experience a world gone dark, something like sunset on every horizon, with the uncanny corona just there. It's like nothing else I've ever experienced; the annular eclipse in the early 90's didn't come close.

I was in Carbondale, IL, with my wife and kids. My wife grew up there, and still has family there; plus, it's only 4 hours away, and we figured we'd have family time if the sky didn't cooperate. Traffic down was easy; getting home was a headache, as expected for one of the largest mass migrations in human history.

http://i.imgur.com/DNgLwf9.jpg

[Bohandas]

The last one ('92?) was more impressive because it was sunny.

This time the morning fog made the eclipse not noticeable, and I took the day off work and got glasses with my son to prepare.

:frown:
The last one was in 2000 IIRC

[obryn]

The last one was in 2000 IIRC
Depends on where you are.

[scalyfreak]

The difference between 94% and 100% is the difference between ... well, not to put too fine a point on it, night and day.

It's not just a quantitative difference, it's a qualitative one. If you're at 94%, you'll get some small weird things, like crescent shadows under trees and maybe a noticeable dimming in light. But you really need eclipse glasses to see anything; there's no key part of the event that will take your breath away.

In the totality, though ... Well, it's an experience that basically needs to be had in person. You can get pictures and videos, but experiencing it is just sublime. There's no big changes until the last minutes before totality; that's when the world starts to get dim, the colors begin to look saturated, and animals all get confused - for us, the cicadas started singing around the 98% mark. In the instants before and after totality, strange shadows rush across the ground in waves - I've been told this is from the small variations on the moon's surface; its craters and hills casting long shadows. During the totality itself, you just take your glasses off and experience a world gone dark, something like sunset on every horizon, with the uncanny corona just there.

It really does make a huge difference. I only had my phone, so my pictures of the totality are not impressive, but I did get a nice picture of the crescent shadows.

http://i.imgur.com/cesNbrT.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/gab4Nnx.jpg

[obryn]

It really does make a huge difference. I only had my phone, so my pictures of the totality are not impressive, but I did get a nice picture of the crescent shadows.

http://i.imgur.com/cesNbrT.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/gab4Nnx.jpg
Hey, that top one is every bit as good as my own phone pic. :smallsmile:

We had no crescent shadows in my brother-in-law's back yard. All the trees were too far off.

Where were you for the event?

[scalyfreak]

Hey, that top one is every bit as good as my own phone pic. :smallsmile:

We had no crescent shadows in my brother-in-law's back yard. All the trees were too far off.

Where were you for the event?

Cascade, Idaho. NASA recommended it as the location "least likely to have clouds" :smallcool:

The crescent shadows are from the hotel parking lot. Our driving experience was similar to yours... easy to get there, royal pain and headache to get back.

[S@tanicoaldo]

Did the solar eclipse made the dead walk among the living in anyone else’s location? No? Just here? Ok :smallannoyed:

In all seriousness now, it was raining so I wasn't able to see it :smallsigh:

[obryn]

Cascade, Idaho. NASA recommended it as the location "least likely to have clouds" :smallcool:

The crescent shadows are from the hotel parking lot. Our driving experience was similar to yours... easy to get there, royal pain and headache to get back.
Nice. We almost had the whole thing spoiled in Carbondale but the clouds blocking the sun just evaporated like 90 seconds before the totality. I'm guessing the temperature disruptions made them break up, since I know weird weather stuff happens. Regardless, we ended up with the full diamond ring effect, banded shadows, and 2m40s or so of totality viewing time. :smallsmile:

I can only guess that people headed to their various destination over the course of several days, but basically everyone headed home around the same time - because nobody I talked to had any problems getting down there, but everyone had a nightmare getting back

For us, the trip home was a straight shot up US 51. Some of our friends left Carbondale at 2:30 pm via the same route, and the '4-hour trip' took them until 11:00 pm. We left a bit after 7:00 pm and the '4-hour trip' took us only until 11:30 pm. Still, we had cars ahead of us and behind us as far as the eye could see - we just lucked out and didn't have any accidents or other terrors to worry about on the trip. Somehow.

[Mari_Lilac]

I'm pretty annoyed it didn't pass over here (Germany), I wanted some super powers :<

[scalyfreak]

Did the solar eclipse made the dead walk among the living in anyone else’s location? No? Just here? Ok :smallannoyed:


When I first looked at the hotel parking lot, I thought it did.

Then I realized it was just a group of eclipse chasers who hadn't slept for several days.

[golentan]

I was outside totality and under clouds when I ran out of time. I was alone in the wild as the light got weird, orange, then a little dark.

At which point I was attacked by birds.

It was a good day. :smallbiggrin:

[Havelocke]

I was able to see it in its totality here in the Kansas City area, very cool. I live close to an elementary school and they allowed to kids to see it (with the special glasses on). I could hear the cheering when it went dark for about 2 minutes.

[veti]

Everything is "minorly overhyped" nowadays. Every product launched will change the way we... cut our toenails or something, every storm is a harbinger of the apocalypse, every election is "the most important one ever", every eclipse is a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity".

I blame the internet. There's always going to be a subset of people who get excited about (Thing X), but previously they stayed in their own clubs and the rest of us didn't have to take any notice. Now - well, now those clubs are effectively meeting in our living room.

[Jay R]

Overhyped? I don't see how. Everything about eclipses is easily available.

I went outside at maximum (75%) and used a pinhole camera to see it. I really enjoyed seeing the crescent spots under the trees, and also created one with my hand.

I really enjoyed it.

[tomandtish]

I am about 3-4 hours outside of totality. I would liked to have gone but traffic... I was in the 94% range and I was minorly disappointed. I was expecting it to be WAY darker than it was and I personally think it was minorly overhyped. I was not in totality so I don't know what it was like there but hope that it was way better and worth it. It definitely was interesting but not as much as I had thought.

Others have said basically this, but I'll chime in.

Over-hyped is a subjective term, because enjoyment is relative. How much enjoyment you were going to get out of this depends on a few things:

Where were you in the path? If you weren't in totality, then it definitely was not going to be as dramatic as it could be. I live in the Austin area and it got a smidge darker at our peak. But honestly not much more then you might see on a slightly overcast day. My wife had forgotten it was eclipse day and asked "is it going to rain?".

More importantly, how much do you enjoy this kind of thing in the first place (or new experiences of this type if this was your first)? IF you are really into this kind of thing and were in a clear viewing area, then even a partial eclipse can be pretty cool. But if you aren't into it in the first place (and especially if you weren't in a total eclipse area) then I can certainly see why you might wonder what the big deal is.

It's one of those things that happen more often than most people realize (eclipses happen 2-5 times a year and total eclipses about every 18 months). The rarity is that it can be centuries before you see a total eclipse at the same spot on earth.

OF course, it can also be a short time as well. We'll be in totality in the 2024 eclipse, and a small part of the intersection of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri will be in total eclipse as well (and was in this one, so two in 7 years).

And for the record, the partial eclipse was a "stick my head out for 2-3 minutes at the height" kind of thing for me.

[cobaltstarfire]

We went to Bowling Green in Kentucky to see it, totality lasted about 40 seconds for us, it was a pretty fun experience, and it really surprised me when totality hit, the change is really big.

I can see how it wouldn't have been so great for anyone even slightly outside of totality, because up till the last second it just gets eerily dim, noticeably colder than it had been half an hour earlier, and all the cicadas started going nuts

Almost immediately after it was done, I turned to the guy and was like AGAIN AGAIN! And we both had big grins on our faces. He's seen one before too, and still really enjoyed it. (Of course he's also got a degree in physics, so there were numerous things about the event that he just loves to talk about to others and think about for himself) It was exciting.

He's currently wondering if he can capture the 2024 eclipse with a pinhole camera, he figures it'd be really hard, then he started talking about making a telephoto pinhole camera....which he might actually do just for how absurd it sounds.

[Bartmanhomer]

We went to Bowling Green in Kentucky to see it, totality lasted about 40 seconds for us, it was a pretty fun experience, and it really surprised me when totality hit, the change is really big.

I can see how it wouldn't have been so great for anyone even slightly outside of totality, because up till the last second it just gets eerily dim, noticeably colder than it had been half an hour earlier, and all the cicadas started going nuts

Almost immediately after it was done, I turned to the guy and was like AGAIN AGAIN! And we both had big grins on our faces. He's seen one before too, and still really enjoyed it. (Of course he's also got a degree in physics, so there were numerous things about the event that he just loves to talk about to others and think about for himself) It was exciting.

He's currently wondering if he can capture the 2024 eclipse with a pinhole camera, he figures it'd be really hard, then he started talking about making a telephoto pinhole camera....which he might actually do just for how absurd it sounds.

I thought that the eclipse come around every century. :confused:

[Jay R]

Randall Munroe makes it clear.

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/eclipse_review.png

[Togath]

I'm up in Washington, so we just got a tiny bit of dimming. Though the main thing I noticed was waking up at 10:30 about and thinking "oh, it's overcast", feeling tired, and then going back to sleep until after the eclipse.
Talking to others, it sounds like I mistook the eclipse here for normal overcastness.:smallredface:

[factotum]

I thought that the eclipse come around every century. :confused:

Er, what makes you think that? There are, on average, two solar eclipses every year world-wide--they're not all total ones, admittedly. The next total eclipse will be July 2nd 2019 in South America and the Pitcairn Islands, but there are some partial ones happening between now and then.

[Bartmanhomer]

Er, what makes you think that? There are, on average, two solar eclipses every year world-wide--they're not all total ones, admittedly. The next total eclipse will be July 2nd 2019 in South America and the Pitcairn Islands, but there are some partial ones happening between now and then.

Oh wow. I got that information on the News in television.

[hamishspence]

Oh wow. I got that information on the News in television.

It might be a case of "total eclipses being seen in the same location happens on the order of once a century (depending on the location)"

[factotum]

It might be a case of "total eclipses being seen in the same location happens on the order of once a century (depending on the location)"

Yeah, that sounds a bit more reasonable--it might be based on the fact that the previous total eclipse that was visible across the entire mainland USA was in 1918. I'm assuming there have been total eclipses on US territory between 1918 and now, but they didn't cross the entire continent.

[hamishspence]

The 2045 one's another "from east coast to west coast" at least:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_August_12,_2045

And while the path is slightly more different for the 2024 one:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_April_8,_2024

it intersects with the path of this years eclipse. So, some people in a certain location in America will be able to say "We got two eclipses in seven years"