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Thread: Eclipse Anyone?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Mesa, AZ
    Posts
    1,277

    Default Eclipse Anyone?

    Just thought I'd start a solar eclipse thread here. Anyone traveling for it? Weather looks great for Casper, Wyoming where I'm headed. Going to be camping at Green Acres there, where they have a corn maze. Eastern Oregon looks good too, for all my old observing buddies headed that way. And possibly into Nebraska. I'll have my portable heliostat mounted H-alpha filtered telescope with recently replaced blocking and trimming elements, and a newly installed controller for the filter heater with me to watch the four contacts up close. Had it out today in the driveway to configure the controller and verify everything is working properly.

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    Here's a closeup of the controller. I'll eventually mount it into the electronics box, but in the meantime, look at how well it sits between the rails!

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    First total eclipse I tried to get to was in '79. My brothers and I piled into a van and headed from Lockport, IL to Minot, ND. We were late, the van broke down on the way, and so we only made it to see the "diamond ring" effect. Second time I tried was to Zambia in 2001. Made it that time, and enjoyed the show while at a trance festival there. Hope to be around for another in 2024.

    I've been a solar observer since first seeing the sun through a H-alpha filtered telescope in 2000. The mount I built, and the system around it is described in this Amateur Astronomy article I wrote a few years ago.

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  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Cherry Hill, NJ
    Posts
    129

    Default

    Yes! I am taking the family (me+wife, 4.5yo, 2.5yo, 2mo) to South Carolina from Philadelphia. This will be my first as I was born in '79. We managed to get a hotel room in the path of totality, even with my late planning. I am fully prepared to drive as far as Tennessee or further if the weather forecasts indicate clouds/thunderstorms.

    I had purchased some cheap-o no-name solar glasses in kids and adult sizes, but then did my research and realized they are probably no good. So I got some Thousand Oaks solar film and refitted the kid size glasses with new filters and made some filters for my 25x100 binoculars. I also got some Meade Eclipseview glasses for my wife and me.

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    We got notified by Amazon that they are offering refunds for bogus (AND non-bogus!) solar filters. My wife got an email about the first set of glasses we bought, and I just got an email about the EclispeView glasses (which are on the AAS and NASA approved lists, AND I got them from an AAS approved vendor).

    Here's a link to the Amazon story:
    http://www.kgw.com/news/eclipse/amaz...vent/463899601

    My wife was at the Franklin Institute last week with our son, and she was talking to the guy running the telescope in the observatory. He's from Africa and saw an eclipse when he was younger, said he remembers it being a big deal with drums being played and stuff. Wonder if it was the same one.

    Thanks for the heads up about 2024, should probably start planning for that now.

    BTW, nice setup!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Posts
    768

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Posts
    2,292

    Default

    I have my glasses ready to go. Should be a relatively decent viewing from here in Raleigh, I guess. I don't really care about looking at the sun. I just want to see it get dark in the middle of the day.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Cleveland Ohio
    Posts
    2,599

    Default

    I have a Lunt solar scope and Coronado binoculars. I'll be teaching at a local school. The will measure light temp wind speed and direction relative humidity and pressure. It all gets plotted on a spreadsheet. I'm going get noaa data after the fact across the totality areas and see if I can track the eclipse from metro data. Want to plot it on a map and animate it. Thinking I might be able to measure things like specific heat of the atmosphere and density from the time it takes the atmosphere to react to the change in energy input.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Cherry Hill, NJ
    Posts
    129

    Default

    We are all set to view the eclipse. We found a nice secluded spot and set up the canopy and binoculars. I took this pic with my phone (through filtered binocs) and you can see some sunspots, pretty neat.


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Knoxville, TN, USA
    Posts
    3,154

    Default

    Holy crap - that was SO cool!! (viewing from my front yard in Knoxville, TN, while consuming copious quantities of adult beverages).

    This was my first & likely only attempt at "choreographing" a truly celestial event -
    And I have to say, as much as I REALLY like the laser show version, the visuals for Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon track, "Brain Damage / Eclipse" will never be the same.

    Awesome.

    We were originally going to travel to middle TN for some 100% viewing, but decided to stay in Knoxville & avoid the traffic.
    NO regrets whatsoever!

    That said, here's a shot from the back yard of the home where we originally planned to spend the event:
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    This day may have just qualified as a lifetime epic event.
    Awesome again.

    I'm going to go pass out now...
    Last edited by Stuka; 08-21-2017 at 11:24.
    RR

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

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Posts
    768

    Default

    Got great results using ordinary binoculars as a projector, although it was a bit hard to hold them steady.
    Thanks for the tip, kecked!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Akron, Ohio USA
    Posts
    2,197

    Default

    I didn't have eclipse glasses until a friend of mine called me moments after the thing started and he had a pair he didn't need. So I got to see as much of it as possible from Akron Ohio; about 80% coverage of the Sun. Pretty cool.
    Creator of LaserBoy!
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  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Orlando, FL
    Posts
    373

    Default

    Currently sitting in a Starbucks outside of Cerulean, KY. We were RIGHT in the path of totality. What a mind blowing experience!

    Here are a few of my favorite shots:

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