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Thread: Eclipse Anyone?

  1. #21
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
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    Austin Texas
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    2024! If I stay healthy and make it...Exact Center of Totality path is Hour and a half from my current home location near Austin!Click image for larger version. 

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  2. #22
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    Mar 2010
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    Raleigh, NC
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    Quote Originally Posted by rodman1369 View Post
    2024! If I stay healthy and make it...Exact Center of Totality path is Hour and a half from my current home location near Austin!Click image for larger version. 

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    It's been awhile since I looked at Pflugerville on the map.

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Charleston, SC
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    2,147,489,446

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    My mother drove up to Charleston from Florida specifically so she could see the total eclipse. However, the weather looked pretty iffy early Monday morning. I was watching several different sites, and had multiple tabs open to watch radar and satellite data. At around 12:20 I decided to leave the house to try and find a clearer viewing spot. At the time we still had blue skies at the house, but there were clouds all around.

    We drove to Monck's Corner (near the Hydro-electric dam on Lake Moultrie) and set out our folding chairs in a Walmart parking lot about 10 minutes before the eclipse started. There were a good half-dozen motor homes already set up in the lot, and I saw quite a few telescopes too. We watched the eclipse for maybe 40 minutes or so, and at one point a guy from one of the motor homes near us started playing the bagpipes! Completely unexpected, but very fun. However, as the eclipse passed 30% or so, clouds began moving in, obscuring our view.

    At that point I made a last-minute decision to get back on the road and head further north to the town of Saint Stevens. This was a nerve-wracking drive, because all along the way I was passing people who were pulling over on the side of the road to set up their chairs. No doubt they thought they had gone far enough to miss the clouds. But I was worried that if I stopped too soon, I might get caught in the clouds right before the totality started and end up missing it. So I kept going until I was all the way into town, all the while watching for sharp shadows that would indicate we were well clear of the cloud cover. We ended up parking at a gas station with a large lot in the back and set up the chairs at around 14:35 or so.

    As it turned out, making that second move was absolutely the right call. We were able to watch the rest of the eclipse from ~ 85% all the way through to totality. And even though I was prepared for it to get dark, I was still surprised by it. When the sun was maybe 90% eclipsed you could kind of tell that it was slightly darker than normal, but it wasn't until the last 20 seconds or so that the light levels really fell off. And of course, as soon as we lost sight of all light with the eclipse glasses on, we took them off and gazed in wonder at the corona.

    We had over 2 minutes of totality at our location. I didn't time it exactly, but judging from the map we were within 10 miles of the line of maximum duration. I can say with certainty that it was an amazing experience! I see now why people always say to put a total eclipse on the bucket list! 90 % is cool, and 95 % is cooler still, but nothing compares to being in the path of totality. Interestingly, if you looked around (towards the horizon) you could see blue sky where the sun wasn't fully eclipsed. That was an eerie dichotomy; near dusk light levels at my location and blue sky around me...

    One totality was over, we stayed and watched the moon's shadow slowly retreat, but after maybe 5 minutes or so the clouds finally caught up to us at our location. At that point I figured we had seen enough, so we packed up everything and headed back home. Total time away from the house was just under 4 hours, but the trip was definitely worth it. I really felt sorry for the folks who didn't drive far enough to get clear of the clouds...

    According to the neighbors, it rained at the house starting about 20 minutes after we left, so all they saw was a period of darkness for about 90 seconds. But I did also hear that people who were right at the beach in Charleston were able to see the eclipse, as the clouds never quite made it all the way to the coast.

    All in all, it was a great experience. However, now that I've seen it, I don't know that I would want to drive or fly a long distance to see it again. It's very cool to see, but it's all over in just a minute or two, so it's hard to justify doing it again. But I agree that it's something you want to do at least once in your life.

    Adam

  4. #24
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Cherry Hill, NJ
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    129

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    Glad you made it out of cloud cover, buffo. We were near Lexington, SC, and had scouted some spots the day before right in the center of the totality path. We set up in an empty cul-de-sac in a brand new housing development - it was nice and private. This was our set up, check out the homemade filters on the binoculars.

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    I was very anxious and stressed about the clouds. It was nice and clear in the morning, but then some big clouds started showing up around us on three sides. It looked like they were coming straight for the sun, and we were trying to figure out if we should pack up and move. We stayed and didn't get a single cloud for the entire eclipse.

    Words, pictures, video, etc. cannot convey how beautiful, other-worldly, and magical the total eclipse was. I was expecting be like "Oh neat, that looks cool", but it made me cry. There was not enough time to take it in. I have been trying to come up with some analogy or comparison of a partial eclipse to a total eclipse, but everything falls short. It is something that simply must be experienced in person. I think my wife and I are eclipse chasers now.

    Some cell phone pics taken through the binoculars
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    Taken without the binoculars, for some reason I really like this pic, even though it's tiny.
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    We stayed until the eclipse was completely over and the moon was no longer visible. The clouds blocked the sun just as we were done packing up.
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  5. #25
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Fort Mill, SC USA
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    1,507

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    Lovely pics, Bungy! We had lots of cloud cover in the hour ramping up to the eclipse in Newberry, SC, but the spot we were in was generally clear for 20 minutes on either side of totality with no obstruction during totality. It was totally awesome. In addition to the awesome-ness of totality, the things that struck us the most was the 360 degree sunset and sharp shadows before/after totality even though it was quite dim. You just don't get that at sunset.

    -David
    "Help, help, I'm being repressed!"

  6. #26
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Native Floridian
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    3,127

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    I ended up driving to a Wal-Mart parking lot near Dayton, TN for the eclipse. When we left home we didn't have a particular plan in place and were watching the weather carefully. By Sunday morning we settled for the Tennessee valley area. We had about 2 minutes and 11 seconds of totality (according to our GPS location), which made the trip entirely worth it!
    .
    I didn't take any of my camera equipment but I did take my telescope. My wife kept bugging me to find a way to get some pics thru the telescope so I tried to use my iPhone. Unfortunately the auto focus would not allow me to capture anything good until I found an app to disable auto focus. After that I seemed to have pretty good luck! I was regretting not bringing my other camera gear but the iPhone did well.
    .
    At the moment of totality I removed the solar filter from the telescope and saw the numerous prominences, I quickly had my wife and kids take a look and then immediately starting taking pics with the iPhone.
    .
    It was such an amazing experience, looking forward to 2024!
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  7. #27
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
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    Raleigh, NC
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    Wow. Being able to see the solar flares or whatever those are is amazing.

  8. #28
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Cleveland Ohio
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    I was watching them with my hydrogen alpha scope but you see them much better during totality than in the scope.
    They are called solar prominences https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_prominence

  9. #29
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Knoxville, TN, USA
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    3,154

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    Awesome photos DZ!!

    BTW, you were in my neck of the woods, only about an hour's drive away, normally.
    Eclipse Day, the drive was probably more like 5 hours, LOL...
    RR

    Metrologic HeNe 3.3mw Modulated laser, 2 Radio Shack motors, and a broken mirror.
    1979.
    Sweet.....

  10. #30
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Cherry Hill, NJ
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    129

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    Amazing picture!

    Quote Originally Posted by DZ View Post
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