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Total solar eclipse 2017 - official thread

#21
Bob_Ross said:
My wife & I are seriously considering taking a vacation to coincide with this so that we'll be watching from directly within the shaded area! Personally I think Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming sounds like the most appealing spot, but we're also kicking around Nashville TN and Charleston SC.

Great thread, and thanks for the heads up @hbarcat !
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Don't know where you are from, Bob. I live in South Carolina and can tell you that Charleston is among the most quaint, romantic and historic communities in America. Whenever I sense my marriage getting a bit stale, I carry my wife to Charleston. Never met a person that was disappointed that they visited that city. Plenty to do and it doesn't feel like a tourist trap kind of place.

Edit... Just looked... One of the local boat tour outfits in Charleston is having an eclipse harbor cruise that I bet would make this awesome event even more spectacular;
Charleston Harbor Tours of Historic Charleston, SC, Boat Tours

Another edit.... if I have my bearings right, Charleston SC would be the last place in the country to see the eclipse. That would make for a cool story to tell the grandkids.
 
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#23
hbarcat said:
It is not.

The width of the totality path is determined by the relative geometry of these two factors.

1) The apparent width of the sun as seen from the Earth's surface

2) The apparent width of the moon as seen from the Earth's surface.

Obviously, the real width of sun and moon are fixed, but the apparent widths change slightly since the distance from each body to the Earth is sometimes nearer or farther.

By coincidence, both sun and moon appear very nearly the same size in the sky. During a typical eclipse, the moon just barely covers the sun. But there are often eclipses when the moon is near it's farthest point in orbit around Earth and its disc doesn't quite cover the sun's disc. This is called an annular eclipse and we see a thin ring of sunlight surrounding the moon. There is no dark path along the ground during an annular eclipse because there is no totality.

annular.jpg


Extremely rarely, the sun and moon will be at the precise distance so their discs are the exact same size and totality lasts for only an instant. Tiny rays of sunshine actually sneak through valleys between mountains on the edge of the moon's disc (called Bailey's beads) and the dark path of totality on Earth is so narrow you could walk right across it.

Solar_eclips_1999_5.jpg
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So this eclipse is one where the sun and moon are at the right distance from each other that it is a total eclipse, correct?....... As it happens if you blow up the Goggle map of the path the dead center line genuinely goes directly through my neighborhood. I am really jazzed up about seeing this one. My oldest boy is a pro photographer and I want to get him set up to take us some photos. Totally totally excited about this.
 
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#24
Aberdumbie said:
So this eclipse is one where the sun and moon are at the right distance from each other that it is a total eclipse, correct?.......
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Yes. In fact, the moon's apparent size at the time will be close to maximum so this eclipse will be of close to longest duration (about 3 mins) and widest path.

As it happens if you blow up the Goggle map of the path the dead center line genuinely goes directly through my neighborhood. I am really jazzed up about seeing this one. My oldest boy is a pro photographer and I want to get him set up to take us some photos. Totally totally excited about this.
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Taking pictures of a solar eclipse is a very specialized skill. If he hasn't done it before he'll need to do a little research. PM me if you want some guidance - I can point you in the right direction.
 
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#25
hbarcat said:
Taking pictures of a solar eclipse is a very specialized skill. If he hasn't done it before he'll need to do a little research. PM me if you want some guidance - I can point you in the right direction.
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I may do that. I have him studying on it now. He is such a darned "artist" with his photography. I can't take a decent photo with a phone. You think if a fellow is wearing the correct eye protection that he could view it thru high powered binoculars? Or is that a sure fire way to eliminate what remains of my vision?
 
#26
Aberdumbie said:
I may do that. I have him studying on it now. He is such a darned "artist" with his photography. I can't take a decent photo with a phone. You think if a fellow is wearing the correct eye protection that he could view it thru high powered binoculars? Or is that a sure fire way to eliminate what remains of my vision?
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Do NOT do that.

Solar viewing glasses are only to be used by themselves. Anytime you use optical magnification, like a telescope or binoculars, you MUST have the appropriate solar filters that are designed for that equipment.

Anyone who thinks they can get away with using a telescope or binoculars to look at the sun because they're wearing solar glasses will end up with burned retinas. It will happen in less than one second.

Incidentally, it is safe to look at the eclipse without protection, even with a telescope or binoculars, during totality when the sun is completely hidden by the moon. Just be aware that the instant totality ends, part of the sun's disc will be visible and eye protection will again be necessary.
 
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#27
hbarcat said:
Incidentally, it is safe to look at the eclipse without protection, even with a telescope or binoculars, during totality when the sun is completely hidden by the moon. Just be aware that the instant totality ends, part of the sun's disc will be visible and eye protection will again be necessary.
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This is what I want to view with magnification. The suns corona at the height of totality.
 
#28
I've already taken August 21st off for vacation. I'm in the Charlotte area of NC, so I'm thinking of driving straight down I-85 to Greensville SC, which is dead in it's path. From there, how fast would I have to drive to catch it multiple times? From Greensville I can take hwy 385 southeast, to hwy 26 towards Columbia, which runs basically in the eclipse's path.

I've been wanting to put a supercharger the Mustang anyways...:)
 
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#30
A friend I haven't seen in years lives in St Joseph, Missouri. I might go there.

Otherwise I was thinking of going out to Wyoming, since an entire highway runs along the path of totality, and the chance for good weather will be pretty good.
 
#31
This is great information. I wasn't aware that there was a solar eclipse coming up. There have been some other celestial oddities lately. If we lived in the Middle Ages, there would be some nervous people worrying about omens. We live now, which means I think it's fascinating, just like everyone else.
 
#34
Possibly because total eclipses happen quite often over the world. For many people these days it's no big deal to hop a jet to see one. Then all the people who would rather watch it on the internet from the convenience of wherever they want to be. And the people who don't care one way or the other.

Traveling long distances isn't so easy for me. Actually I see in 2024 there will be another total solar eclipse that passes much closer to me, like down by Detroit. However no guarantee I'll be around then, so I really want to see this one. It's within reasonable driving distance.
 
#38
So how about we start a list of official musicians for the 2017 Total Eclipse Concert?
We can have different bands for different genres.
There should be some connection to a solar eclipse.
Alive or passed. Open to anyone.

I'll start it off.
Genre: Rock
Musician: Keith Moon
('Cause, you know the moon causes the eclipse).
 
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#39
Old Garage-Bander said:
So how about we start a list of official musicians for the 2017 Total Eclipse Concert?
We can have different bands for different genres.
There should be some connection to a solar eclipse.
Alive or passed. Open to anyone.

I'll start it off.
Genre: Rock
Musician: Keith Moon
('Cause, you know the moon causes the eclipse).
Click to expand...
Singer has to be Freddy Mercury
 

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