I didn't make it to totality but I didn't let it stop me from having fun playing with the shadows!
I knew I would be posting pics for you guys and gals, so I made a special pinhole projector for the occasion:
It's a hubwheel! Here's what it looks like not held far apart:
And my favorite part - the tree shadows!
My observations were that the light after approximately 80% felt like it was about 5pm. The dog thought it was a fine time to take a nap. I am for sure making it to totality in 2024, even if I have to walk!
Ready to view Worker dudes, kind of sceptical of the whole affair. Got brought down by corporate to stare at the sun? Sounds stupid. Less sceptical once it started! Little pinhole moons were super cute. My amazing idea - make the company logo pinhole style. I tried to explain to everyone how awesome it would be, but I don't think anyone really got it until they saw it in real life during the eclipse. I think it tuned out pretty well: My little promo video of the whole thing. The actual eclipse footage is stolen from the internet since I didn't have the gear to film that. Not my best work since I was a little spread thin also taking pictures on the camera and iphone for the social media but I think it turned out decent enough. It was a fun experience, definitely want to go see the real thing in 2024 (can't believe I was at 99! soclose!)
Here are mine (album: http://imgur.com/a/FHikn): Through the eclipse glasses Through the clouds
I am a mediocre photographer so I let the pros take the images. I soaked everything in and tried to see everything. Ended up staring at the corona for almost 2 minutes while noticing Regulus, Venus, Jupiter, and maybe Mars. The strange shadows and the massive shift in colour saturation at the event were well noticed by the crowd.
The corona should be significantly more interesting in 2024, close to solar maximum (provided we aren't entering a new grand minimum era). With a bit of luck, we could even have some coronal loops visible. I'm slightly bitter because I couldn't find my binoculars (for scoping the corona during totality) when I hurriedly threw my crap into a suitcase early Saturday morning. My parents recently built a house almost dead center of totality for 2024. So that's done :).
Watched it race toward us by watching the clouds to the west all go dark and grey, then the full round "sunset" effect that turned some of the clouds yellow and orange, then again watched it rush away to the east. So looking forward to 2024, possibly 2019 if I get the money, or go crazy and run away to Chile
Nice eclipski! I made the trip to totality, but I didn't bother with trying to take my own photos. Seems like the rest of the internet had that covered, so I just soaked it in. "Soaking it in" apparently included me grabbing my head with both hands, yelling "holy shit!", and briefly staring wide-eyed at the ground shortly after totality began. So my friends have told me. I don't really remember doing that, but yeah, sounds like me. I can't imagine what I would have done if I were a caveman with no knowledge of astrophysics. You should absolutely attempt to experience totality in 2024. Try to find someone who lives in the path, or set up shop somewhere you can chill for a few hours afterwards so you can avoid the imminent traffic jams on the interstates intersecting the path of totality: I know wasoxygen took at least one pic worth sharing.
It's interesting to hear you say that, if only because I heard someone on the radio say that watching totality is like having a deep, spiritual experience. I'm not gonna lie, I rolled my eyes at that and thought "Whatever, it's the moon blocking the sun. It's not that amazing." Knowing someone (kind of, we're internet buds, right?) who actually had a somewhat similar reaction now? Maybe the dude was on to something. Dala tried to get me to look at the sun through her glasses multiple times. I told her no every time. I have few hard "nevers" in my life. One of them is never willingly stand in front of the barrel of a gun unless I'm being foolishly heroic. Another is never handle a visibly rabbied animal, unless again, I'm being foolishly heroic. The big one though? Never stare at the sun, ever, under any circumstances. If I want to see what an eclipse looks like, that's what the internet is for."Soaking it in" apparently included me grabbing my head with both hands, yelling "holy shit!", and briefly staring wide-eyed at the ground shortly after totality began.
One of my PhD advisors is a United Airlines premium (or whatever) member, in part because they've accrued tens of thousands of miles over their lifetime from flying around the globe to experience totality over and over and over. I will agree with them (and you) that a partial eclipse is pretty cool, though "not that amazing", but totality is a different beast. They warned me of such, but there's simply no way to prepare yourself for the contrast in experience between even 95% partial coverage and the moments leading up to, during, and immediately following totality. The experience was only rivaled by the time I watched an Atlas V blast off into space a couple of years ago, carrying thousands of hours of my own blood, sweat, and tear-inducing labor. I wouldn't say that either qualifies as a "religious" experience, but I guess it's about as close as an agnostic space scientist can hope for. Also: We're definitely internet buds, buddy. There's probably nothing I can tell you that she hasn't, but I, too, had a pair of coated lenses that I made sure were ISO certified from an accredited source... and I think you're totally missing out. A pinhole camera projection works too, though, and I understand your concern. Among other bodily calamities, I fully expect my blue eyes to develop cataracts in a few decades. Save me, modern medicine!It's interesting to hear you say that, if only because I heard someone on the radio say that watching totality is like having a deep, spiritual experience. I'm not gonna lie, I rolled my eyes at that and thought "Whatever, it's the moon blocking the sun. It's not that amazing." Knowing someone (kind of, we're internet buds, right?) who actually had a somewhat similar reaction now? Maybe the dude was on to something.
Dala tried to get me to look at the sun through her glasses multiple times. I told her no every time. I have few hard "nevers" in my life. One of them is never willingly stand in front of the barrel of a gun unless I'm being foolishly heroic. Another is never handle a visibly rabbied animal, unless again, I'm being foolishly heroic. The big one though? Never stare at the sun, ever, under any circumstances. If I want to see what an eclipse looks like, that's what the internet is for.
Yes! I got bot sets very clear on the projected image. I anticipate that these will all start hitting the used market by the end of the month. I bought mine used for about 200 shipped. 200 is about the upper limit of my "Eh, what the hell" impulse budget.