Eclipse 2017

[sapest]

Baker City pic

 

[HotRodZilla]

NM was ok, but not really that much to write home about. The shit load of cloud cover didn't help. We were so far out of the direct line, that I didn't notice any dimming of light. I did look at the eclipse through a special tinted lense, and that was cool, but only about half a crescent. Oh well, next time. Lol.

 

[Bugnatr]

Got on the Hippo at 4:30 am and rode over to Reno and up 395 to Lakeview Or. At 90% it was fun to look at with my welding shield but not an earth shattering event.

However the 650 mile round trip ride was awesome and more than worth it.

 

[bigjohnsd]

Drove 2 hours South West to Lance Creek WY. 100% within the "Zone of Totality" ! No clouds, nice viewing, better lunch alongside the road. Traffic coming South on U.S. 85 was bumper to bumper at Mule Creek Junction. Lusk WY was packed, hardly anyone where we were. It got dark, but not real dark. Crickets for quite active, Coyotes howled, cows continued to chew their cuds, my dogs were not distressed or impressed.

 

[Bounce]

We only got about 75% occlusion here at the house. Good practice for 2024.

 

[RichDoyle]

We went just the few miles North and East from our house to my stepdaughter's house-in-progress in the Ochoco reservoir to get a bit over a minute of totality. It was really interesting how the perceived air temperature dropped as it went dark. Lots of folks lined the adjacent highway to observe. One thing I found annoying was that whole bunches of people felt compelled to actually scream interminably as totality happened.

The possible negative effects of having all these extra people in the area some were bracing for turned out quite manageable. Traffic backups were shorter in duration than we thought would happen. But the ODOT did call it correctly with big traffic backups yesterday trying to get into Madras from the South on 97 just for "the moment".

Spot shortages of gasoline did happen, but were not widespread and didn't last too long. We're told that the Symbiosis Festival attracted something like 40,000 people. But so far I haven't heard of much in the way of trespassing or littering and no one started any new fires to fight. There was a bank robbery in Madras yesterday, but who knows if that had anything to do with the Eclipse-watching folks.

We did have one tragedy in the form of a fatal airplane crash by a guy trying to fly into Madras for the event. He came up from California and crashed in a canyon just a couple of miles from the Madras airport.

I did see a sheriff's vehicle chasing (get this) a Smart Car eastbound out of town on the highway. I haven't heard what that was about.

 

[juniorfjr]

I was at work and stepped outside to look about 5 minutes before the maximum. Me'eh. We were at 92% here and thought it would get darker. My daughter said that is shows the power of the sun. Did cool off and street lights came on.

 

[Bill Lumberg]

Cooled off noticeably, got dim, but not dim enough for street lights here. I suppose the light level was slightly brighter than dawn or dusk, but the coloration of the remaining light appeared more yellow/gold, or perhaps I should say, a warmer color temperature, than normal dusk or dawn, since a portion of the giant yellow ball was still smiling down upon us, unlike a real dusk or dawn.

 

[hppants]

We got 73% and it kind of resembled wearing some light sunglasses without the glasses. I knew it wouldn't be dark, but I expected darker. A physics professor who I know told me that the sun puts out the light equivalent of 10 to the 26 power (exponential) watts!!! I don't even know what that number is, but I guess that explains why 27% of that is still pretty bright.

I got a shot at one of the University's telescopes and it was nice to see it.

 

[MCRIDER007]

I was surprised it wasn't darker at 95-99% blockage but I think a light meter would have shown there was actually a significant change. The pupils in our eyes do a pretty amazing job of compensating for low light.

 

[Fred W]

[wise guy mode]

For those in the local area, the sun was blocked 100% yesterday at 7:38PM It got really dark, crickets chirped and frogs croaked, and the streetlights came on. It remained 100% occluded for 7 hours and 22 minutes. Thankfully there were no crowds or traffic jams nearby.

If you missed it, that's OK. I hear it's going to happen again today at 7:37PM.

[/wise guy mode]

I did find it incredible that people actually cheered and screamed during the solar eclipse. I'm sure that made the moon feel good.

 

[eflyguy]

Took the day off work and trekked a couple of hours North into the path of totality, got to experience two minutes. I planned ahead, had a gorgeous spot all to ourselves, and had virtually no issues with traffic (thanks to my knowledge of the area on two wheels.) Took my girl and her two kids and they were equally amazed. Experience of a lifetime for sure. As it was mid-afternoon, clouds were starting to build and several nearby places missed the view of the sun going out - although they did at least experience the darkness. The 360º sunset was surreal. I will never forget the image. The sky was the darkest blue, stars all around, and the light from the corona was the cleanest, clearest, brightest white I've ever seen. The pictures you see don't really do it justice. Temperature dropped around 11-12 degrees, not just perceived - car thermometer showed when we were leaving. The drop in intensity of the sun was also very noticeable at around 30 minutes before totality, you could just tell it was getting darker. It pretty much stayed like that until a few minutes before. We left right after the totality, and it was crazy driving in that light. Very different than dawn or dusk, hard to describe.

For those that were less than impressed with the partial eclipse, watch this if you're curious how different the experience was in the path of totality. This is filmed with a crowd, but I can tell you all of the excitement and amazement is overwhelming, and I could hear people in the surrounding area yelling and laughing, along with the dogs barking. Everything you can see was visible to the naked eye - especially the prominences - the red flares from the sun extending out from the edge of the moon. This video has a slight tint, but as I said elsewhere, the light was the purest white I've ever seen, just brilliant.

 

[eflyguy]

I was surprised it wasn't darker at 95-99% blockage but I think a light meter would have shown there was actually a significant change. The pupils in our eyes do a pretty amazing job of compensating for low light.

Many people I know commented that they expected more, wasn't that impressive. I know some that went North but stopped short of the path of totality. Even my totally-not-a-geek girlfriend and her daughter said they can believe how most people that stayed home weren't impressed, because the difference between the scene a few seconds before totality, and then during, was (literally) night and day. Another friend of mine that really didn't care posted this: "I wasn't really that excited about it at first, but after witnessing the totality and seeing how much light still came through at 98%-99%, I can see why there is such a big difference on people's feelings on whether you got to view it at totality or not. It was pretty amazing to see I have to say. I'm glad we got to experience it."

 

[El Toro]

Folks who compare eclipse to night are woefully ignorant of what actually happens during totality.

The view of 360 degree sunset, Bailey's beads, diamond ring, corona, and shadow snakes are not present in "night."

If you haven't seen it, don't knock it.

I was far more impressed than I expected to be. We had 2:40 of totality at my house.

 

[Fred W]

I'll bet you were one of the ones screaming and cheering.

 

[RossKean]

I sort of thought I would get to this one but the plans didn't materialize. Oh well, the one in 2024 passes right over my house (if I'm still living here then.)

 

[Spud]

Totality went right over my house. We had family over, I live in a cul-de-sac and a lot of people were hanging out. Idaho Falls had optimal weather, we had blue-bird skies without a cloud and a hot summer day. Around 10:30 you could see it begin with the glasses. Between about 11:10 and 11:20 it began to feel eerie and the entire city stopped--no traffic sounds, nothing but dogs barking. Temperature dropped dramatically to where my wife went in to put on a jacket, the temp drop was unlike anything I've ever felt. Groups of panicked birds started cruising by, you could hear more and more dogs barking. 11:30 there was just a sliver of sun left, but nothing prepares you for the shadow.

In an instant it was like someone twisted a dimmer switch on a light. From a bright sunny day the lights turned off. Kids were freaking out and screaming, a collective gasp went all through everyone and the neighborhood. The most surreal thing I've ever experienced in my life without a doubt. Street lights kicked on, I could see stars, the lights inside the house glowing through the windows. I looked straight up up without sunglasses and there's a round glowing ring of fire in the sky where the sun was. I'm telling you, it taps into something way down in our evolved mind and you just can't process it. A couple minutes later it was over. I felt like I was in a dream for about an hour.

Seeing a partial is cool. But to see it go dark in a blue sky with no clouds, well you've experienced it or you haven't and I have not talked to a single person of any age that was not awestruck that watched it here. It was 1000x more impressive than I was expecting.

 

[Ignacio]

100% with you Spud. I was watching in Eastern Oregon in the same clear-blue conditions, putting on a jacket, and certainly interesting in the hour it neared 99%...shadows look different and you start to feel like you're on a foreign planet.

But that last 30 seconds or so before totality, through the two minutes of totality, and just after it comes back is other-worldly. Gasps, screams, a big orb ringed in fire just makes you humble and slightly confused, and so glad I spent a three day trip just to experience those three minutes.

This one was my second total eclipse. I got to stay home from grade school for the one in '79 that went over my house and my memory renewed as this one happened. Totality is a huge experience.

I did shoot a video of the reverse angle of the eclipse facing west. This is at Dixie Butte, Oregon...about 7400' elevation. A few hundred people drove four miles up a rutted forest service road, camped out for several days (they later closed the road 4 miles further), and hiked the last mile to either the saddle I was on or a summit several hundred yard away at 7600'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIU6KtjAJ1Y

 

[phroenips]

Iggy, that's a cool video. (btw, you need to fix your link, I had to manually find it with the video ID) Afterward, I thought how cool it would be to see the shadow come across the landscape from on top of a mountain.

We took the car to Kearney, NE (closest place I could find a hotel room relatively late in the game)

It's cliche now, but I now know what they all mean by "the difference between 99% and 100% is night and day" and of course, the pictures only capture a tiny portion of the experience. A black hole in the sky, surrounded by a glimmer of light. Wow.

It truly was remarkable and awesome in the most literal sense of the word: "extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear."

I felt all of those things. Other words to describe the eclipse (for me): thankful, appreciative, surreal, mesmerizing, heart-racing, calm, dark, excitement

 

[El Toro]

some guy who wasn't there wrote =("Fred W")

**************

I'll bet you were one of the ones screaming and cheering.

************

No, I was one of the ones collecting data and writing observations.