The Total Solar Eclipse

MacMadame

Doing all the things
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One of my geekiest colleagues made a shadow box and people were sharing their glasses. I had bought a 10 pack and had 2 left by the time the eclipse started. It was fun and much more impressive than I remembered from 1963. I'm glad we had eclipse glasses and not just the pinhole boxes.
 

Dave of the North

Digging up dead relatives since 1992
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One hour until I can see (expected) 82% eclipse in the DC area. I just made my shoebox viewer - it took like 10 minutes! :D

I made the same one. We didn't have much of an eclipse - around 25% but still neat to see. We had a total eclipse sometime in the 60's or 70's but it was a really cloudy day.

ETA - Mar 7, 1970. I was in Moncton NB, not in the path of totality but close to it. This is probably the eclipse mentioned in "You're So Vain"
 
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BlueRidge

AYS's snark-sponge
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I made the same one. We didn't have much of an eclipse - around 25% but still neat to see. We had a total eclipse sometime in the 60's or 70's but it was a really cloudy day.

ETA - Mar 7, 1970. I was in Moncton NB, not in the path of totality but close to it. This is probably the eclipse mentioned in "You're So Vain"

aha! That's the one I remember from when I was a kid!
 

KCC

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We had a cool little event on the high school football field here in Idaho, which was in totality. I managed our telescopes, so I got to meet everyone -- in addition to locals, we had wonderful visitors from California, Utah, Ohio, Germany and the UK. Both of our telescopes were outfitted with solar filters, so people had a much larger view than what you can see with just glasses -- you could even see several sun spots! Very, very cool event!
 

Karpenko

Not Impressed.
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Some people took it to the extreme and did their wedding vows while "total eclipse of the heart" was their wedding song (during this eclipse). After seeing this, I decided to stay indoors and let everyone else go nuts about something that you can watch on TV. It was fascinating :cool:
 

Simone411

To Boldly Explore Figure Skating Around The World
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Well, I mentioned my experience elsewhere. I'll share here, too. Around 1:20 p.m. central, the sun started getting dimmer. It looked like it was in the evening hours when it's beginning to get a little darker. My brother brought his welding hat for us to look through, and it was awesome. The moon was covering around 80% of the sun. The temperature even got a little cooler which was pretty neat. Of course, it didn't last long. But it was a really cool experience!
 

judiz

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We covered the windows and glass doors in the classrooms and waited, but our area of New Jersey did not seem to be impacted too much by the eclipse. Looked like a partly sunny day outside. After all the hype, I wanted total darkness.
 

PDilemma

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5,670
I'll watch it on all the national news stations and the Weather Channel. 12:40 here and it's already been on split screens everywhere from Oregon.

The sun is directly over my house throughout the whole thing, but I'm not even going to go near a window. Overly cautious? Nobody can explain why I had an attack of posterior vitreous fluid detachment (flashing lights in retinas) for three days last year that magically went away. I'm not taking any chances. :)

I was in the 100% area and didn't look either. Same reasoning as you. I have had issues with the vitreous in both eyes (ongoing...and I'm too young for the corrective procedure) and also have thinning retinas due to a hereditary condition. No way in hell I'm risking anything that could damage my vision. And a lot of fake eclipse glasses were sold in this area.

Unfortunately, I had to go to a medical appointment in the path of totality today. It took me 45 minutes longer than usual to get there and almost twice as long as usual to get home thanks to the eclipse watchers clogging up traffic. At one point this morning, a three lane interstate was going 18 miles an hour. This afternoon, it was actually completely stopped half the time. There were a couple of bad accidents and one fatality in all of that insane traffic.
 

once_upon

Better off than 2020
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One of my geekiest colleagues made a shadow box and people were sharing their glasses. I had bought a 10 pack and had 2 left by the time the eclipse started. It was fun and much more impressive than I remembered from 1963. I'm glad we had eclipse glasses and not just the pinhole boxes.
Thank you! I kept telling people I had seen one in 1963, people said no 1979. Except I wasn't in 6th grade in 1979 - I'd been married 6 years by then.
 

once_upon

Better off than 2020
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30,260
We were at 99.3% of totality, and it was still fairly light out! Which is just nuts. It was a really nice day and our principal extended our lunch to an hour so we could stay out.
Double post. This was my experience too, I kept waiting for dark and it was just grey - not dark grey either - just dirty snow grey. The biggest effect I notice was intense pain on the leg that has permanent nerve damage from a herniated disc. Really intense. That and incredible sinus pressure. Starting about the time of "start" All of which dissipated around the time of "end"
 

love skating

Clueless American
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We had about 60% here, but was still pretty neat to see with the glasses! My brother went to Oregon to see it (has in-laws up there), will await to hear his stories and pics. All in all a very neat event.
 

Nan

Just me, retired
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7,039
I live in one of the prime viewing locations in the US, 100%, over two minutes. We got together with some neighbors and all watched together. It didn't get midnight dark, but the change was significant and the temperature dropped about seven degrees (it was 93F when it started). Another total eclipse will hit our area in 2024, it will be interesting to compare the two.
 

skatingfan5

Past Prancer's Corridor
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I just got back from totality, which was totally awesome! Went 200 miles south to get into the zone of totality -- 4 hours there due to some road construction, but 6 hours getting back due to the traffic! :mad: But it was all worth it, even the 103 heat index. :lol: The difference between 99.9% and totality is really amazing. The last 10 minutes leading up to totality the light was getting noticeably dimmer and dimmer and I kept telling the other half dozen people that I heard the last seconds were very quick -- and it was, just like someone pulling a curtain. The sky went to charcoal grey and the moon perfectly black and the corona a bright, pale yellow. Crickets started chirping immediately and I just stared and stared, not quite believing what I was seeing. :wideeyes:It was rather surreal and obviously not something I had ever experienced before and was over much too soon (a little over 2 minutes). The instant the first bit of sunlight reappeared the solar glasses went back on and the surroundings seemed as if it were full sun so great was the contrast. Truly an amazing day and I am so grateful for my friend who made the trip possible. :respec:
 

MacMadame

Doing all the things
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58,615
Some people took it to the extreme and did their wedding vows while "total eclipse of the heart" was their wedding song (during this eclipse). After seeing this, I decided to stay indoors and let everyone else go nuts about something that you can watch on TV. It was fascinating :cool:
It's not the same though. Seeing it in person is much more ah inspiring. On tv, it could just be special effects!

Me 3. I thought it was the 1963 one but I would have been 6 then and I remember being older. 1970 was the last year we all lived together in the house I grew up in so it's a bittersweet memory.

I live in SF so I couldn't see squat because it was too cloudy (as per usual).
And just down the street in San Carlos, it was mostly sunny! I was really bummed when I got up and saw clouds everywhere but by the time I biked to work and took a shower, the part of the sky where the sun was had cleared up and we could all see it. It was fun!

Thank you! I kept telling people I had seen one in 1963, people said no 1979. Except I wasn't in 6th grade in 1979 - I'd been married 6 years by then.
You're welcome but I realize now it was the 1970 one. :D
 

BaileyCatts

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I just took a quick glance up thru the office window (like 1 second) but I wasn't in the target area anyway. Just saw a little sliver cover the sun. It just got a little bit dark, like a storm was rolling in, not blackness outside. Too far outside the line I guess. Hope I don't go blind. Seriously, it was like 1 second. :p

Please tell me the story I just heard on the radio about a woman who gave birth today and named her kid "Eclipse" was one of those "The Onion" stories or something. Good lord if that was real. :rolleyes:
 

once_upon

Better off than 2020
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You're welcome but I realize now it was the 1970 one. :D
1964? - my classmate from grade school recalled one too. I can't read the charts, but Mary remembered a similar time frame. 1962, 1963 or 1964 would have been the right time frame
 

Spareoom

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I hang out with a bunch of very space nerdy friends so they've been planning for this eclipse for years...we rented a house in Missouri, pretty much on the center line of totality. We were really concerned about the weather; it was very hazy leading up to totality but it cleared up enough for us to have a wonderful look at the sun during totality and then it was very sunny during the waning. It was so surreal! Definitely worth the effort it took to arrange this whole trip. Definitely didn't feel like two minutes; it felt like mere seconds. One of my friends set up a telescope with a solar lense and I got a few good pictures through that of the waning. We bought eclipse glasses about a year ago so they were good quality, and it was great to be able to SEE the sun and not just look at the shadows.
 

Maofan7

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I think it was 1963. I remember making the box viewer.

The solar eclipse of 1963 occurred on the 20th July 1963

Some footage of the event - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ryLClakg9Fs

From Wiki: "The eclipse was featured in the comic strip Peanuts (July 15–20, 1963), with Linus demonstrating a safe way of observing the eclipse as opposed to looking directly at the eclipse. On the day the eclipse passed over his area, Linus was left helplessly standing in the rain with cloud cover entirely too thick to witness the eclipse. It also served an important function in the plots of two Stephen King novels, Gerald's Game (1992) and Dolores Claiborne (1992) and was featured in a season 3 episode of Mad Men titled "Seven Twenty Three" (2009)."

The solar eclipse of March 7, 1970, featured in the plot of The Mary Tyle Moore Show episode "Today I am a Ma'am."
 
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Susan1

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I was in the 100% area and didn't look either. Same reasoning as you. I have had issues with the vitreous in both eyes (ongoing...and I'm too young for the corrective procedure) and also have thinning retinas due to a hereditary condition. No way in hell I'm risking anything that could damage my vision. And a lot of fake eclipse glasses were sold in this area.

Unfortunately, I had to go to a medical appointment in the path of totality today. It took me 45 minutes longer than usual to get there and almost twice as long as usual to get home thanks to the eclipse watchers clogging up traffic.

Mine's just my right eye. I am always the youngest person at the retina specialist.

I think I would have changed any appointments to today! They showed miles of cars leaving right away after, and lines of planes waiting to take off yesterday from somewhere on the news this morning.

The temperature even got a little cooler which was pretty neat.

They said ours went down about 4-5* - 89 to 85, whoopee.
 

PDilemma

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Mine's just my right eye. I am always the youngest person at the retina specialist.

I think I would have changed any appointments to today! They showed miles of cars leaving right away after, and lines of planes waiting to take off yesterday from somewhere on the news this morning.

I am the youngest there, too.

One was a regular dentist appointment that I already had to change because it was scheduled right after we closed on our house and were in the middle of moving. I also like to keep regular stuff like that in the summer as much as possible so I'm not off the sub list and losing pay for them (one district I work in started a week ago, one starts tomorrow, so no work quite yet). Pushing it back more would have landed it in the school year now and in the future as well. One was scheduled for me because it was a referral to an orthopedist and I had to wait ten days to get in as it was. I have been in pain and medication for it is rough on my stomach due to chronic gastric issues. So I really wanted to get there. They gave me cortisone shots for the problem and it has improved remarkably already. Rescheduling would have likely meant a much longer wait as this is not an emergency, so you get pushed back while they keep times open for setting fractures and such.
 

twinsissv

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Yesterday was remarkable! I can't remember the last time people seemed to be united in wonder and awe while observing something over which we had absolutely no control! Looking skyward now, I realize how much I miss that feeling.:(
Today...it's back to the same old crap. Politics, pardons, rallies and worse. Didn't realize how much I'd miss that celestial dance between luna and sol while humans on a tiny planet below actually applauded their performance! :cheer2:
Our spirits needed that brief jolt of joy...
HOW SMALL WE ARE. HOW LITTLE WE KNOW.
But now...back to what passes for...reality. :argue: How sad.
 
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PDilemma

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I'm with you.

I knew a few people who didn't understand what all the "hoopla" was about.
I believe they missed something special.

I think we will all survive. And if we find we can't we can go see the next once in a life time, OMG you'll be dead before it happens again one in less than seven years.

And my extremely light sensitive eyes with compromised retinas are just as well with missing out on all the specialness.
 

skatesindreams

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If you have a health issue, that's understandable, of course.
I enjoyed being able to follow the total eclipse online/on television, this time.
 

Susan1

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They showed it happening on our local channel in Dayton, Ohio - 98.8%. Funny all of the national ones going across the totality had crescents on the left and right. From this angle, our crescent was on the top.

A friend visiting Spokane from Australia just posted a picture with the maximum coverage they had and the crescent was on the bottom!

They said ours went down about 4-5* - 89 to 85, whoopee.

It goes down +10* when it rains, and back up an hour after. It didn't get any darker here. The sun that was left got brighter and the shadows got deeper

I have been in pain and medication for it is rough on my stomach due to chronic gastric issues. So I really wanted to get there. They gave me cortisone shots for the problem and it has improved remarkably already.

Are you my long lost twin? I have to eat a bunch of food just to take one Advil to keep from getting cramps. And I love, love love those cortisone shots!

I knew a few people who didn't understand what all the "hoopla" was about.
They were making fun of it on Morning Joe Monday morning. I thought maybe it was because they were in NY and not going to get to see much of it. It's not like I would travel across the country (for anything, actually) to be there, but I did flip channels from noon to about 3:30 keeping up with all the cities, and saw the local coverage when it hit ~90% here.

I think we will all survive. And if we find we can't we can go see the next once in a life time,
I don't think she meant that those of who could not go outside in eclipse glasses didn't get the "hoopla".

p.s Please don't all come to Dayton, Ohio in 2024! hee hee
 

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