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Posted on 08/17/2017 7:46:43 AM PDT by Heartlander
Things get a little weird during an eclipse. Here are six things to look for.
While there are many superstitions about eclipses, there are also a lot of weird things that happen during an eclipse that are completely real -- and super cool. Here are six incredible things to look for during the eclipse on August 21.
"A totally eclipsed sun is 10,000 times fainter than one that is 99 percent covered by the moon," Meg Pickett, astrophysicist and a professor of physics at Lawrence University told CNET. The change in light during an eclipse makes the temperature drop suddenly, which makes animals think that night is coming.
As the total eclipse begins, animals begin their evening songs and behavior, such as crickets chirping. As the eclipse ends, the animals think that morning is coming. If you're in the country, you'll be able to hear roosters crow.
During the eclipse, the sky will get so dark that stars will look just as bright as they would during the evening. If you live close to the total eclipse zone, you'll even be able to see planets like Jupiter and Venus easily.
Right before a total eclipse, little snake-like shadows will appear to slither across the ground. According to NASA, scientists aren't completely sure why shadow bands happen. Many scientists believe that they are caused by light from the eclipse being focused and refocused through cells of air in the atmosphere.
Shadow bands are a rare sight during the eclipse, but you may be able to see them with the right equipment, timing and location. The most important part is the color of the ground. You can see the bands best on light colors. Some people lay a large white sheet on the ground. You may also spot them by looking at concrete, sand, snow or ice.
"In 2015, I saw the eclipse in Svalbard, just 800 miles from the North Pole," said Mark Bender, a longtime eclipse chaser who has followed eclipses from Norway to Australia, and also the director of CuriosityStream docu-series Eclipse Across America. "I was standing on a landscape covered with ice -- just like an enormous white sheet. And there they were! It's all about being at the right place at the right time."
Bailey's beads are pearls of sunlight shining through the valleys and mountains of the moon, explained Pickett. You'll see them around the edges of the moon as it passes over the sun.
"The beads may look reddish in color, exposing the upper atmosphere of the sun, the chromosphere, or 'Sphere of Color.,'" said Pickett.
Corona rainbows happens when the air is full of water molecules. "During the eclipse in 1999, I was watching in Cornwall, England," said Bender. "It was a completely overcast and rainy day. Leading up to the eclipse, you couldn't see the sun at all. Three minutes before totality, the sun started to peak though, and with one minute to go, clouds dissipated and the entire sky opened up. We lucked out, but the best was yet to come. Even though the rain had stopped, there was still so much water vapor in the air. When the sun eclipsed, the corona was full of tiny rainbows! Imagine seeing the stunning corona in full color! I have never seen that since, but anything is possible. You just don't know how it will play out."
During totality, or when the sun is completely covered by the moon, you can see a what looks like a sunset-- in every direction-- around the horizon.
When he was 15 in July 1963, NASA researcher and Dickinson College Professor of physics and astronomy Robert Boyle witnessed his first solar eclipse in Bangor, Maine. "When totality arrived, I was amazed at how dark it got," Boyle told CNET. "The silence that descended around us was as profound as it was unexpected. The birds stopped chirping. The air grew still. And all around the horizon where the clouds left a little gap of sky, there was a crimson band of light as if sunset was a 360-degree phenomenon."
The strange 360-sunset effect happens, Boyle says, because the sun is still shining outside the path of totality.
Why would that be? Totality only lasts for a minute or two.
I’ve seen two total solar eclipses in my life. The coolest thing for me is not what I see by looking at the sun/moon. Rather, it is all the stuff going on around me regarding the just plain weird lighting.
My neighbor has a broken rooster that crows randomly throughout the day (and night). Probably won’t make much difference to him.
CNN will be diving for the bomb shelters thinking its the NORKS launching their nukes!
I saw the one in Panama in the 90s. The Bunger’s Bands are the most fascinating and they only last seconds. As soon as it’s over you are wanting to see the next one. I have been waiting over 20 years for this.
The eclipse is totally Trump’s fault. We didn’t have any during Zer0’s term.
It is also interesting to note that the insect noises you usually ignore suddenly become totally absent. So there is this almost instantaneous “hush” that is almost spiritual.
7) Dogs and cats, living together...
NOT the only one. Total BS that Roosters crow only at Sunrise. Total BS.
A total solar eclipse is a two-minute event that only happens once every 15 years or so. A Clinton telling the truth is a two-minute event that only happens once every 15 years or so.
A coincidence? I think not.
Thought you’d find this interesting.
FRegards ....
Is there a chart showing the time the eclipse begins in each area ?
“..The eclipse is totally Trump’s fault. We didn’t have any during Zer0’s term....”
Yes, and since Trump has caused this, there will also be more GLOBAL WARMING....certainly an impeachable offense....(/s)
#7: Dozens of pinhole type eclipse images under small trees as the leaves make lots of little pinholes.
[My neighbor has a broken rooster that crows randomly throughout the day (and night). Probably won’t make much difference to him.]
What is the old saying “ A Broken Cock is right once a day” ?
And little green men will land in your back yard.
They are not bizarre things. They are 100% natural phenomena that occur infrequently.
http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017_GoogleMapFull.html
Just zoom into the area of interest.
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