Posted on 08/21/2017 9:12:49 AM PDT by Kaslin
I found out later that this is a perfectly explicable celestial phenomenon, occurs regularly, and is perfectly predictable. That's kinda tough luck on the virgin we sacrificed, but at least the sun came back.
I’m in New York City, BTW. We had about the same coverage: 75%
Ah, you are correct — several reports say the view from Saluki Stadium was partially obscured for all but 10-15 seconds. “Translucent”, one might say. So they got their 2:40 or so of totality, but not as much of the dramatic view I got for a little over 2 minutes, with the corona clearly visible, some planets visible (Venus was quite bright), etc.
I feel a bit bad that the biggest gathering in the Southern IL area had, apparently, some of the poorest viewing, but, I’m not going to trade!
I saw a NASA photo of (I think) likely the same sunspots on a partially eclipsed SUN - quite impressive, especially when one considers how large the Earth is (not) by comparison.
Me too, but you got a lot better pic of the corona!
From Canada, Oct 24, 2014...
No, no, NO! That’s not the time to sacrifice the virgin! That’s the time to step slightly closer and see if she’ll tolerate your arm slipped around her waist!
:-)
I was shocked by it; what a thrill.
I had read about it and had seen pics, but didn’t know it would pop up so fast and brilliant!
From Oct, 2014
"Here's the [2014] Solar Eclipse as seen from Notre Dame's Basilica of the Sacred Heart."
Check out the series of sunspots. Sun was more active at the time. I think it was near a solar maximum.
"Solar Eclipse & seagull, viewed from a beach in Florida. Credit: R. Schwartz
Two things:
Your eyes adjust to the gradual decrease in light level by opening up the iris. (You may notice a slight change in spectral content, though, different from typical sunsets.)
Also, sight and hearing (sound level) work in a logarithmic fashion. For example, a halving of acoustical power (-3 dB) is barely discernible to most untrained ears. It takes 10x (or 1/10[x]) to sound double or 1/2 as loud, to most people. God made us this way so that we can hear very soft to very loud sounds, and yet, for example, a nearby clap of thunder, or a yelling person, does not deafen us for life.
I was in Nashville, too... I was a little northeast in Gallatin at Bledsoe State Park. Crowded, but oh so worth it!
I’ll never forget the eeriness of totality. I mean, I enjoyed it immensely, but you cannot watch a video, or see it on TV, and reproduce what it is like to see the whole area dark like that.
The sky was even lit with faded reds and orange like a sunset right after the sun goes down, but not in the west, but rather 360 degrees around you!
AND, I just got home to South Alabama. I left the park at 1:45 PM, drove down 109 to I-40, and then I-40 to I-840. What a parking lot that road was!!!!
And I-65 was the same for miles and miles. Even slowed to a complete stop in North Alabama.
Now it is 10:30 PM and I am tired.
BUT—worth it!
A question for everyone who saw the eclipse...
How are you eyes?
Mine feel a little funny. I wore my paper eclipse glasses over my eye glasses. I definitely didn’t look at the sun directly except during the totality. Maybe I’m just tired (I am!).
Still, if any one would like to discuss symptoms or warnings to look for, I’m all ears—er, eyes!
You=your!
Roughly 110 planet earths could fit side-by-side across the diameter of the Sun.
Did you see any stars?
Is that an area known for dark night skies?
That’s interesting. The sun was covered to the tune of about 83 percent where I was, and I noticed the difference well before maximum coverage. My home was darker, too, and that was with the sun coming through the skylights.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.