Eclipse 2017 -- After the fact

Last week in the "8/21/17 Total eclipse ..." thread, the Wizard said:

Quote: Wizard

I'd like to suggest somebody open a new thread for the eclipse after the event where we can share stories and pictures.

So I'll do that here. Others have already told about our group gathering in Cherokee, NC and what most of us got to see down the road in Murphy (a few miles off the centerline of totality, but with restrooms, restaurants, a casino, and well-planned event support provided by the folks from Harrah's Cherokee Valley River.)

I became frustrated by some difficulties in my efforts at photography, which put me in a grumpy mood. I think I will defer discussion of those difficulties lest they lead me back to that mood. I was also disappointed with my photo results, but I will post one image to start this thread. It is a composite of several of the shots that I took.

Click on the image behind the spoiler button in order to see it at the size of your browser window. Click on that image if you want to see it oversized.

Great pics, Doc!

I was about 40 miles east of you in Highlands, NC. The traffic the whole weekend seemed like a normal August weekend, despite rumors that there would be throngs of people there.

We found a park that was less than a mile from where we were staying. It was relatively uncrowded, and had a good view of open skies. Unfortunately, the clouds started rolling in from the east late in the morning, and we slowly were getting socked-in. We saw the sun through a break in the clouds when the eclipse first started, but no more after that. Around 1:30, we decided to pack up and drive west. Since the clouds came from the east, we figured we'd have a better chance to see if we headed west.

At about 2:30, we found a break in the clouds and pulled over at a gas station on the outskirts of Franklin. We got to see the last sliver of the sun before totality. We also saw the sliver after totality, but unfortunately, the clouds obscured our view during. So, we didn't get to see the corona. We also did not see any stars, though I'll also blame that on the cloud cover. It was neat how fast it went from light to dark (like dusk after sunset) back to light.

All in all, it was a good trip, with some minor disappointments. Sounds like the WoV Cherokee crew all had a great time! I'll have to join you next time. Harrah's Metropolis in 2024, anyone? :)

Quote: Doc

Last week in the "8/21/17 Total eclipse ..." thread, the Wizard said:

So I'll do that here. Others have already told about our group gathering in Cherokee, NC and what most of us got to see down the road in Murphy (a few miles off the centerline of totality, but with restrooms, restaurants, a casino, and well-planned event support provided by the folks from Harrah's Cherokee Valley River.)

I became frustrated by some difficulties in my efforts at photography, which put me in a grumpy mood. I think I will defer discussion of those difficulties lest they lead me back to that mood. I was also disappointed with my photo results, but I will post one image to start this thread. It is a composite of several of the shots that I took.

Click on the image behind the spoiler button in order to see it at the size of your browser window. Click on that image if you want to see it oversized.

My composite image of the Eclipse 2017 as seen in Murphy, NC

cool pic!

wow.. an hr from start of the eclipse to totality?
so another hr from totality back to full sun?

any time lapse of that happening?

Forgot to buy glasses. I was able to look at it on my phone camera without looking into the sun at all, but it was super cloudy anyway and I couldn't see much. Meh. I'm sure it looked great on the west coast.

Quote: 100xOdds

wow.. an hr from start of the eclipse to totality?
so another hr from totality back to full sun?
any time lapse of that happening?

The before-hand info I had said that, at the casino in Murphy, the partial eclipse would begin at 1:05:26.3, with totality starting at 2:34:16.9 and ending at 2:36:48.7, and the partial eclipse ending at 4:00:08.5.

All of those times are EDT, of course, giving roughly an hour and a half of partial eclipse both before and after. We didn't watch much after the end of totality -- just went inside to cool down.

The labels on my image are from the time stamps recorded by the camera. The camera's clock should be correct within a minute, but I wouldn't count on the seconds, so I didn't report those.

I did not record any video or time lapse. I was getting frustrated just trying to take snapshots.

Quote: Joeman

We also did not see any stars

that reminds me, we also saw only [presumably]* Venus and one other planet or star. Seems like some accounts had us expecting a starry sky, or at least a lot more than that?

Makes me think our 360 degree horizon was very bright due to lack of clouds? Just asking, Doc.

*

I didn't take any pictures myself, but I brought my telescope to work and told a few people. Word spread fast and I had I think about 100 different people take a look. Many people looked more than once.

Quote: odiousgambit

Makes me think our 360 degree horizon was very bright due to lack of clouds? Just asking, Doc.

We may have differing memories.... You are correct that it was not like night, but it was a lot different from a typical clear summer afternoon. I have a couple of photos of the surroundings that I took during totality, but I didn't take any comparable photos during full daylight, so I don't know how useful it would be for me to post them. I considered the lighting level during totality to be similar to late dusk, well after sunset but before total darkness.

I know that beachbumbabs took photos of the crowd and the building during both the partial eclipse and totality to demonstrate the difference. I hope that she will post them for everyone to see the ground-level appearances.

According to the Google Interactive Map of the eclipse path, my home neighborhood (~20 miles north of Charlotte) reached 97.249% obscuration. Even with that, one of my neighbors described it as an anti-climactic "Is that all there is to it?" event.

As we approached totality in Murphy, I asked a few folks whether they would have noticed that anything was happening if they had not been advised in advance that there would be an eclipse. Several admitted that they might not have recognized that there had been changes to that point. I think that relates to how a person at 97% maximum obscuration could consider it no big deal.

While I did not take any photos of the shadows in Murphy (didn't even pay attention to them), another of my friends took a few cell phone photos in our neighborhood and texted them to me. I thought they looked pretty good, and I might steal them to post here as examples of outside-of-totality experiences.

I have to admit that I only noticed one body other than the Earth, Moon, and Sun. I suspect, as OG said, that it was Venus, but I haven't checked that out. Speaking of Venus, we had a thread here a few years ago about a Venus transit of the Sun. I took some photos that day with a quickie set-up and posted them in that thread.

Quote: Doc

I have to admit that I only noticed one body other than the Earth, Moon, and Sun.

Oh sh#t. Maybe it was Nibiru.🤓

I have been having Internet issues all week, so haven't been on until today. Thanks for starting this thread, Doc, and I love that mosaic. I'm going to steal it for my scrapbook with your permission, since i was sitting 6 feet from you. I'm hoping OG will also post the best of his photos of the crescent reflection through the leaves; they were pretty great.

Here are 3 sets of contrast photos of the event outside Harrah's. We were about 7 miles off the centerline, up high in their parking lot, and only a few wispy clouds on the horizon that did not impede whatsoever. The crowd was incredibly appreciative of each movement, gasping and cheering for the double diamond, totality, and outbound ring, which made it even more fun.

I have to admit, I just wanted to join the group for some WoV fun, and wasn't that into the solar astronomy, but I was totally awed by the event. So glad I made the trip.

Center of Harrah's at 1/4 eclipse.

[Img=

More to come. Uploading is a pain today.

Quote: Doc

We may have differing memories.... You are correct that it was not like night, but it was a lot different from a typical clear summer afternoon. I have a couple of photos of the surroundings that I took during totality, but I didn't take any comparable photos during full daylight, so I don't know how useful it would be for me to post them. I considered the lighting level during totality to be similar to late dusk, well after sunset but before total darkness.

I know that beachbumbabs took photos of the crowd and the building during both the partial eclipse and totality to demonstrate the difference. I hope that she will post them for everyone to see the ground-level appearances.

According to the Google Interactive Map of the eclipse path, my home neighborhood (~20 miles north of Charlotte) reached 97.249% obscuration. Even with that, one of my neighbors described it as an anti-climactic "Is that all there is to it?" event.

As we approached totality in Murphy, I asked a few folks whether they would have noticed that anything was happening if they had not been advised in advance that there would be an eclipse. Several admitted that they might not have recognized that there had been changes to that point. I think that relates to how a person at 97% maximum obscuration could consider it no big deal.

While I did not take any photos of the shadows in Murphy (didn't even pay attention to them), another of my friends took a few cell phone photos in our neighborhood and texted them to me. I thought they looked pretty good, and I might steal them to post here as examples of outside-of-totality experiences.

I have to admit that I only noticed one body other than the Earth, Moon, and Sun. I suspect, as OG said, that it was Venus, but I haven't checked that out. Speaking of Venus, we had a thread here a few years ago about a Venus transit of the Sun. I took some photos that day with a quickie set-up and posted them in that thread.

I think late dusk is a good comparison, especially for cases where the sunset-like effect on the horizon was visible. I've seen pics from friends who watched in Kansas, where there were lots of surrounding clouds and a well-placed opening that the sun peaked through. Their totality was very night-like, presumably because the 360 degree sunset effect at the horizon was obscured by the cloud cover.

One little quip that I hadn't seen until this morning:

http://www.gocomics.com/frank-and-ernest/2017/08/21



And BBB, of course you and others are welcome to use the image I posted, with all of the typical ("non-commercial purposes only", "no liability on me", etc.) limitations.

Thanx to Doc for starting this thread, and to all who contribute.

I watched the eclipse in the forest off state road 215, a few miles south of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was in the totality zone, picnicking with friends. We had a clear view for about two-thirds of the eclipse event, but clouds moved in at the end.

What I found most interesting -- aside from the eclipse itself -- was the traffic situation. A few items:

• Friends who watched the eclipse near Nashville live in Maryland, close to Washington, DC. They needed to be at work on Tuesday, so they immediately started the journey home as soon as they could after the eclipse event. Normally, the drive takes 8 hours, but it took them 18 hours to get home. Two adults and 3 young children. Not a pretty car ride.
• Early on Tuesday morning I left NC to drive to Biloxi. I stopped at a large grocery store in Clayton, GA, just as it opened at 7 am. I heard two employees discussing traffic on US Hwy 23 (the main north-south road) on Monday. They said that traffic was backed up for several hours prior to the eclipse as folks tried to reach places like Franklin, NC. And, after the eclipse, traffic was backed up until well after midnight.
• I did not notice any appreciable traffic during my trip from NC to Biloxi, but Atlanta was a horror (as always).

I hope everyone dodged traffic problems during their eclipse adventure.

What should have been a two hour drive from Hastings, NE to Omaha, NE took three hours. I was happy to pay that price.

Interestingly, when I checked into the hotel in Omaha after the event, I mentioned to the desk clerk that I saw the eclipse in totality and he mentioned that 200 rooms had checked in the day before.... that means a ton of people drove from Omaha to the middle of NE the morning of the eclipse. I would never leave something like that to chance.. one serious accident and you're going to miss your opportunity.

I can't convince Doc I am merely making an observation about the darkness and not complaining!

And for BBB, I promised to post the pindot-through-leaves photo. Came out better than I thought, I was just using my cell phone.

I have not been a Trump-basher, and have stayed away from those threads. I agree with him on some things, disagree on many others, and when he provokes some of these pundits, it might amuse me [though I hate the idea of a 'tweeting president']

But I have to say, this is a guy who listens to nobody; unbelievable!

I was in Idaho for the eclipse. The weather was perfect, with cloudless skies. Traffic, which had been very good in the days prior, was a nightmare, as the town of 24k residents struggled to handle 100k visitors. Pre-event planning Estimates had put the visitor numbers at 500k, so I guess it could have been worse.

After an amazing seclipse, the drive south from Idaho Falls to Salt Lake City was a grueling 10 hours when it was supposed to be 4.

Still, it was worth it.