The nice thing about the 2024 eclipse is that it will be about twice as long. This eclipse will be a little over 2 minutes. The eclipse in 2024 will be on the order of 4 minutes. Wow!
Also, for those of you who say "I've already seen a total eclipse", chances are you are wrong. See this:
There are many kinds of eclipses - total solar, partial solar, annular, and lunar, to name the most common few. Partial eclipses are pretty common, and you very well may have been a part of one of those. Lunar eclipses happen at night, and they can be seen by half the world at the same time! Annular eclipses are much rarer, but you need to have special filters to see them, so many people don't even know they're going on! But a total eclipse -- these are extremely rare, extremely beautiful, and the bare-eye view of totality is absolutely unmistakable to anyone in the thin path! They are the kings of eclipses, with nothing else able to stand in comparison.
2/26/1979
WA, OR, ID, MT, and ND were the only states to see totality, in the mid-morning. It was cold and dreary, and unfortunately many people did not see the eclipse due to rain.
That's it for total eclipses seen from the U.S.! Anything else you may have seen was not a total eclipse!
s6
I saw the 1979 one, but it was overcast and I was only six.
The forecast is for clear sky this time. I am looking forward to stars at 10:00 AM!
Also, for those of you who say "I've already seen a total eclipse", chances are you are wrong. See this:
There are many kinds of eclipses - total solar, partial solar, annular, and lunar, to name the most common few. Partial eclipses are pretty common, and you very well may have been a part of one of those. Lunar eclipses happen at night, and they can be seen by half the world at the same time! Annular eclipses are much rarer, but you need to have special filters to see them, so many people don't even know they're going on! But a total eclipse -- these are extremely rare, extremely beautiful, and the bare-eye view of totality is absolutely unmistakable to anyone in the thin path! They are the kings of eclipses, with nothing else able to stand in comparison to!
These are the only total solar eclipses that have touched U.S. soil in the last hundred years, and the general locations you would've had to have been in to see totality:
6/8/1918
A nationwide band of totality stretching from the SW corner of Washington, through Denver, the Tulsa/OKC area, Jackson MS, the panhandle of FL, and Orlando.
9/10/1923
Only visible from the far SW beaches and a couple of the offshore islands in California.
1/24/1925
Northern MN, WI, and MI, and about half of NY (NYC was split in two by the path!), plus pieces of PA, NJ, and CT.
Read the New York Times articles about the 1925 eclipse, courtesy of Michael Zeiler!
8/31/1932
Maine, NH, VT, and the far eastern coast of MA.
2/4/1943
Alaska only
7/9/1945
Our "Victory Eclipse" was visible in ID and MT only, in the early morning.
6/30/1954
From northern NE, through the western tip of Michigan's UP. Minneapolis was in the path. Early morning.
10/2/1959
Massachusetts only, just at sunrise.
7/20/1963
Alaska got a good show, and Maine was the only other state to see totality.
3/7/1970
From central Florida, the path hugged the eastern coast of the US up through Virgina's Eastern Shore. This may have been the eclipse that Carly Simon was referring to in her 1972 song "You're so vain". ("You flew your Lear jet up to Nova Scotia - to see the total eclipse of the sun.")
7/10/1972
Northern Alaska only. This might also have been the eclipse that Carly Simon was referring to in her 1972 song "You're so vain". (see above) They were both visible from Nova Scotia! (The song came out in December of 72, so it's unlikely that it was this one, but hey - you never know!
2/26/1979
WA, OR, ID, MT, and ND were the only states to see totality, in the mid-morning. It was cold and dreary, and unfortunately many people did not see the eclipse due to rain.
7/22/1990
This one only touched four small islands in the Aleutians, in the late afternoon: Atka, Amlia, Seguam, and Amukta. From reports we've read, the day was rainy, and unfortunately no one saw the eclipse from US soil.
7/11/1991
Hawaii only, and lots of people were clouded out. (Many people went to Mexico to see this one, and were not disappointed there!)
That's it for total eclipses seen from the U.S.! Anything else you may have seen was not a total eclipse!
s6
We live pretty much in the center of the path of totality, which will make for a great time Monday morning. It is, however, creating some logistical problems.
Many gas stations are actually selling out of gas.
Pallets of bottled water clutters the storefronts.
Travel times on the freeways have tripled and will probably get worse.
Dirty hippies are everywhere (okay, this is Oregon we're talking about and we have more than our share of local dirty hippies, but it has increased significantly).
Grocery stores are as crowded as the day before Thanksgiving.
Anyhow, I am actually enjoying the commotion. As a teacher on summer vacation I've got nowhere I need to be and we are stocked with beer, wine, and gasoline...
What is it like for others that are in The Path?
I saw the 1979 one, but it was overcast and I was only six.
The forecast is for clear sky this time. I am looking forward to stars at 10:00 AM!
I think you are right, I have never seen a Total eclipse. Until aerostadt explained the difference, I assumed what I saw at Bluff was one.
I probably never will see one unless it's a picture someone took of it. I definitely won't drive to see one hundreds of miles away, but it's ok if you want to. My tasteless comments were in regard to the "apocalypse" used in the title of this thread. Come on guys, it's gonna get dark, the world won't end. Enjoy the view.
Instead of watching the skies Monday, I will be eagerly watching online. There's a group of colleges which are lofting a large number of high altitude balloons along the path of the eclipse to view the path of the suns shadow. Also, photos from space will be interesting.
Steve Shannon
For this one I had intended to travel to Idaho Falls, a distance of 220 miles from Butte, MT, which is where I leave now. Unfortunately we've had a lot of wild land fires and I truly doubt that we would be able to see it well due to the smoke in the air.
Steve Shannon
It is the human way, even without any rules of acquisition.I expext there'll be plenty of folks out to make a buck off of the eclipse viewers.
It is the human way, even without any rules of acquisition.
And yes I expect we'll encounter a few humans who are at least acting like Ferengi. Heck, $50 a day for a dry camping space at the airport is a little bit Ferengi-like, but not as much as some stuff we've heard about.....
Total Solar Eclipse Could Cost US Nearly $700 Million in Lost ProductivityI'm not it the path but I listened with some degree of entertainment about the doom-saying of how the grid is going to collapse due to the loss of the sun and the higher use/dependence of/on solar. I would reckon the shadow is going to be about as large as a medium-sized frontal system who's clouds I believe also block the sun...???
Total Solar Eclipse Could Cost US Nearly $700 Million in Lost Productivity
By Tariq Malik - August 19, 2017
https://www.space.com/37880-solar-eclipse-2017-cost-700-million-productivity.html
Yes, that eye damage thing is a good question. And iPhone camera damage along with the eye damage.According to NBC News, worker distractions from March Madness can reach up to $615 million per hour as employees take time out to track college basketball games, set up brackets or catch up on game highlights.
I wasn't saying that it wasn't, pointing out the other side in my original post.That one pretty much makes the eclipse loss a non-issue -->
Nothing like focusing the sun on your camera sensor. Another "economic positive" from "The Broken Window Fallacy" files - increased smartphone sales... to dumb people.Yes, that eye damage thing is a good question. And iPhone camera damage along with the eye damage.
effing Ferengi...sheesh.
s6
Yep, come to think of it, I did hear or read somewhere the mention of viewing via smartphone. Digital zoom would be OK to use because it's done by simply displaying an enlarged view of a small sensor portion at lower resolution. The more rare (and expensive) smartphones with actual optical zoom might harm sensors.
Enter your email address to join: