Solar Eclipse chasers

In the scheme of solar system events nothing has topped Hale Bopp for me. Eclipses are very pretty but I don't get this shit where adults talk like they previously held pre-enlightenment beliefs until they saw a solar eclipse, like gravitational force doesn't quite convey to them that we are on a spinning rock! A couple of months ago I was reading about that rogue star (with a dimmer satellite companion) that grazed the oort cloud in a cosmic near miss incident 70000 years ago, that is what you call a solar event, although I guess it probably just looked like a very bright star from earth's vantage but at least there wasn't Brian Cox + BBC News 24 back then.

I live right next to an observatory and so there were a bunch of (mostly amateur) scientists and film crews and school groups out with equipment and it was cloudy but in a thin way so the sun poked through enough to see the eclipse steadily. It was only about a 70% eclipse down here but I got to see it through equipment at maximum.

schools weren't supposed to let kids out to watch it because they are dumbasses but they went out anyway, answering the kosmik imperative I guess. my son said one kid stared at it a really long time and then his vision was all yellow afterward, I dunno, maybe that's worth it.

now I have Coldplay in my head

nobody said it was easy

None to be had locally, so I ordered some eclipse glasses for next month. (we'll get 92% occultation)

not looking forward to the ONE MILLION extra people coming to Oregon

predictions are for 5 to 15 (!!) hour traffic delays

what the hell

also predicted: rural areas running out of weed and alcohol:

http://www.kgw.com/news/eclipse/eclipse-creating-record-demand-for-oregon-liquor-marijuana/459535936

Roadtripping to the Nebraska/Wyoming/Colorado border area for this. No way the eastern Oregon road infrastructure can take it

we're gonna be in eastern Oregon 1-2 weeks before and I'm hoping it isn't gonna be too much of a clusterfuck by the 13th when we get home to hunker down

My first trip back to Mid-Missouri in awhile. Of course this thing is flying right over Columbia.

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:is93ZejjQmoJ:https://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/6256316306.html+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Wanted woman who wants to conceive child during totality eclipse in OR
I am 40 years of age, caucasian male from Europe. My heritage is strong and pure.

My looks, instincts, knowledge and strength is 100% pure and 100% lethal.

I am looking for a worthy female with strong genes, beauty and smarts. To join me - to experience the totality eclipse in Oregon.

Exact place not set.

If we have chemistry, I would like for us to make love while the eclipse is happening.

When totality occurs, we will have simultaneous orgasms and we will conceive a child that will be on the next level of human evolution.

We will make love together, with me and my penis directed towards the sun.
Everything will be aligned in the local universe.
Both of our cosmic orgasmic energy will be aligned with the planets.

In a brief moment of ecstasy, we will understand everything, and together, create a new universe. Full of love...

You must like cats. Drugs are OK. Nitrous Oxide while we climax and experience totality and conception, is OK with me.

You must like cats.

This guy needs to stick it where the sun don't shine - o wait.

posted by a local on FB:

These are things I have either heard people say or seen posted re the eclipse:

"Will cell phones still work?" (at VD)

"There won't be another one for 830 years." (facebook)

"Are you guys worried about shortages? Everything will be closed for a while cause of the eclipse, so people are going to stock up on food and water." (Kiva checkout line)

"How many days will it be dark for?" (at VD)

"Make sure you charge your phone Sunday night, because the grid will go down." (at VD)

"They're going to charge $25 per person for everyone who is outside for it, and all those people from other states are coming here because there's no sales tax in Oregon." (in line at ATM near Saturday Market)

"I'm requesting to take Monday, 8/21 off because it will be way too dangerous to come to work." (VD)

"All the computers will stop working, so get your cash out of the bank before it starts." People I was eavesdropping on by river)

"It's going to be 100% dark! Nobody will be able to see unless they wear special glasses." (Friend's mom)

"Cats and dogs need to be kept indoors or they will go blind." (At VD)

also re: an "Eclipse Party" - "my kids are in school that day, can it be postponed?"

http://time.com/4902109/total-eclipse-of-the-heart-bonnie-tyler-cruise/

i'm thinking about a spur of the moment all-day drive to see eclipse in nebraska, a little near omaha. any denizens in the area know of traffic snarls or other concerns?

traffic already backed up for 14 miles in central Oregon

http://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/5523721-151/eclipse-traffic-already-backing-up-begin-in-central

i like that this dude in the 1st post was already cognizant of the upcoming 1

The next one in the States won't happen until 2017, I think.. and it's only going to brush the Northwest.
― Brian MacDonald, Sunday, October 28, 2001 8:00 PM (fifteen years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

keep chasing that darkness, brian

i'm thinking about a spur of the moment all-day drive to see eclipse in nebraska, a little near omaha. any denizens in the area know of traffic snarls or other concerns?

Keep an eye on @Nebraska511 on Twitter. It's the Nebraska Dept. of Transportation and they're updating. There's also phone apps.

(on my way to Alliance, Nebraska in the western part of the state)

things I have either heard people say or seen posted re the eclipse: "Will cell phones still work?"

This one has a sort of tangential relevance, at least here in Oregon. Near the path of totality there will be far more people than normal, no more cell towers than before, and much of this combination will occur in highly rural areas. The cell phone capacity is likely going to be totally overwhelmed.

"Are you guys worried about shortages? Everything will be closed for a while cause of the eclipse, so people are going to stock up on food and water." (Kiva checkout line)

people are totally stocking up on food and water. everybody has gone batshit crazy about this for the past week. at my workplace we've gotten special emails about how to prepare for the emergency, with stuff talking about the power grid going out, nobody being able to get anywhere, etc., etc. it's not like there are a whole hell of a lot of roads that will take you to salem.

I'm drunk in a Nebraska cattle pasture. AMA.

So, then, everything's just fine for the nonce.

my house is in 99.6% coverage area. path of totality is 15 miles north. but that 15 miles could take a couiple hours to travel thx to traffic.

def the "once in a lifetime" opportunity appeals to me, and everything you read says "if you can get to totality, you MUST!" but i'm also wondering if i should avoid the stress and just enjoy 99.6% from the roof of my house.

thoughts, ilx?

i vote totality.

99.6%, but I'm not that excited by the whole thing anyway.

If you could do the 15 miles by bike I'd say totality. Wrap up a picnic basket and find a quiet spot if possible.

If not: 99,6%. You won't even notice the difference, really. I went to France with some buddies to see one, 15 years ago or so. We made a camping trip out of it which turned out to be memorable, one for the ages. And worth way more than the eclipse itself. We found a spot by a small lake. Went there an hour early - it was in the afternoon - and it was p magical to see all the birds and swans in the lake going to sleep again, thinking it was night. Then after an hour waking up again as if nothing happened, as if it's completely normal to sometimes have an extra 'night' during the day.

If anything, the effect of a solar eclipse is best seen in nature, in animals. So I'd advise a spot like that. It doubles your value and is much preferred to standing in a loud crowd going ooh and ahhh with their spex on.

and taking photos with a flash...

I love you but I've chosen totality.

I also saw the France one (18 years ago, if we're being precise) - instead of driving to Cornwall like everyone else (idiots!) we got Le Shuttle and watched it from a field just outside Amiens. A+ would gawp again etc

Ha, we were near Amiens! 18 years ago already, sheesh.

this eclipse glasses shortage business is totally bogus tho fwiw

Finally, all those oversized Amazon boxes reveal a purpose

http://i.imgur.com/UYuFldx.jpg

huge recall of glasses that a coffee chain was giving out, this will end well

Have ye ever tried blinking, but for longer.

Also holy shit @ sleeves overheard quotes. Poll that shit.

I got a refund and a "we can't guarantee these" for the glasses I got, but I looked at the uneclipsed sun with them for a few seconds at a time the other day and I think they'll be ok for my purposes -- just a few seconds every few minutes.

from a friend - "It turns out there are all types of fake eclipse viewing glasses. My mother the scientist called me yesterday to give me the tip of how to test whether you have safe eclipse glasses. Put on your glasses and look directly at a bare light bulb. If you can see the light bulb filament, they're no good, if you see darkness, you are good to view the sun. Keep your eyes safe!"

my house is in 99.6% coverage area. path of totality is 15 miles north. but that 15 miles could take a couiple hours to travel thx to traffic.

def the "once in a lifetime" opportunity appeals to me, and everything you read says "if you can get to totality, you MUST!" but i'm also wondering if i should avoid the stress and just enjoy 99.6% from the roof of my house.

thoughts, ilx?

― alpine static, Monday, August 21, 2017 3:10 AM (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

can't beat the roof of your house imo

i have to work today but at least the astronomy department is hosting the eclipse party right outside the library where i work

we're a few hours from totality, i think we will have 80% here

I think I have one incandescent bulb left in the house.

"Nitrous Oxide while we climax and experience totality and conception, is OK with me."

the new Adam Ant single

http://i.imgur.com/cvTCQib.jpg

NASA Raw feeds https://www.nasa.gov/eclipselive/#NASA+TV+-+Eclipse+Views+(Raw+Feed)

i'm about to experience this the best possible way (i.e. w/ 30 excitable teenagers who don't know a whole lot about how the sky works)

Dying at sleeve's overheard quotes

I didn't even realize until getting there that when the sun is fully covered, it's safe to take off your glasses and look at the eclipse.

It definitely does - I found this video from 2017 just to get an idea what totality would be like and at the end the guy mentions how even the smallest sliver of sun makes a huge difference (and you see it by how fast everything darkens and lights up - it’s not very gradual, it's surprisingly fast).

― birdistheword, Monday, April 8, 2024 6:05 PM (forty-two minutes ago)

if you've ever tried to blackout curtain your bedroom because you're very sensitive to light...

Made it to just SE of Llano, Texas and watched it from the side of the road. That wall of dark that comes at you is something - birds were restless, the wind kicked up

Little late posting this, but this is pretty cool: weirdest things that happen during a total solar eclipse.

This is hilarious:

“It turns out that Galapagos tortoises had a remarkable reaction,” Hartstone-Rose says. “Right at the moment of totality, they started mating behaviour. As in, they literally started breeding in front of everybody, before our eyes.”

it's from the Daily Mail so you know it's been well-researched

Americans suffering from 'eclipse sickness', including insomnia, headaches and changes to women's periods

* Eclipse sickness has been used to explain weird side effects of the event
* People have also reported feeling more anxious and emotional

(strangely, I had a bout of insomnia last night which is not all that common for me)

I think i have it. I changed into a locust.

My wife and daughter have a hotel room in Little Rock tonight, but my wife's cousin had to get back to Birmingham for a work meeting. It took her four hours to get from LR to Memphis.

It doesn't look like fun over there.

https://i.imgur.com/RYelXVI.png

https://i.imgur.com/8mid9GK.png

My shot of the day.

https://i.imgur.com/AJNi0Bq.png

Memphis didn't get 100% totality, but Chip Somodevilla did get this:

https://i.imgur.com/WfMlcag.jpeg