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I was at home in central Wyoming in 2017 for the eclipse, so I only had to travel as far as my backyard to see it. My favorite thing about describing a total solar eclipse to people is they think you can't see them without special equipment. Now, I didn't get a nickname like Star Man because I like extremely irrelevant video games, so I understood that somehow, people were able to see solar eclipses. I live in Pittsburgh now, so I will have to travel to see the eclipse. Going to Texas would probably be my best bet, but I will probably be stuck making the trek to Erie and hoping for the best.
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Jul 7, 2023 04:14
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 05:05 |
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As an FYI, anyone driving to a place and planning on leaving after the eclipse ends, be prepared for a very long drive. If I end up going to Erie to roll the dice on seeing the eclipse, I plan on staying in town all day and not leaving until 10 pm.
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Jul 7, 2023 23:31
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Mantle posted:I'm not planning it as a day trip, more like a 3 week trip. I'd camp at least one night before and after the eclipse. Seems good. That post was for anyone reading in general, not anyone specific.
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Jul 7, 2023 23:54
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Expect absolute madness anywhere the total eclipse will be visible from, no matter the size of the community or anywhere in between them. I'm hoping my plan to be on I-79 to go to Erie, Pennsylvania, by 5 am is good enough.
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Feb 9, 2024 17:36
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I'm this close to springing for a glass solar filter for my ten-inch Dobsonian telescope. Two hundred fifty dollars for one. I feel like it would have better durability than film. Adapters that use film are sold out.
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Mar 4, 2024 19:48
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I found a film solar filter that is fitted to a ring that will work with my Apertura AD10. Seventy-six dollars after shipping, so that should last me long enough. That will give me plenty of time to get it fitted and ready for April.
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Mar 4, 2024 21:13
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bawfuls posted:Clouds are killer and dedicated eclipse chasers will go to great lengths to find clear skies for totality. In 2017 my dad was in Jackson WY, some of the people in his group got spooked by the forecast and hit the road at midnight the night before to drive for more favorable conditions. Jackson ended up being fine but clouds are the enemy here. How much did he get gouged for that trip?
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Mar 28, 2024 01:09
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It's 2024 CE and I still have to explain to people that, yes, you can see a total eclipse of the sun with your naked eye if you're in the path of totality, and yes, it was visible in 2017. Just because you didn't see it yourself doesn't mean they're impossible to see. And in the meanwhile, I absolutely hate hate hate hate hate how much of a struggle it is to convince anyone to look at so much as Jupiter or the Big Dipper just once.
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Mar 28, 2024 12:07
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This will be my reaction if the skies are cloudy in Texas on eclipse day:
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Mar 31, 2024 22:28
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It's going to be raining all week in western Pennsylvania, with a forecast of Sunday being clear and cloud buildup again Monday. Forecasts expect around sixty percent cloud cover. I'm cautiously optimistic.
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Apr 1, 2024 01:24
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At this point, I think anything that anyone has planned on doing, so has everyone else.
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Apr 1, 2024 08:00
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DrBouvenstein posted:I'm surrounded by areas tourists will be in, but I think my actual neighborhood, being ALL residential, no hotels (and hopefully not THAT many AirBnB rentals), only like two restaurants that aren't basically just take out, no bars, etc... wont' get as much traffic/people. lol lmfao People will need to park and expect people to be blocking your driveway. Seriously y'all have no idea how many people are going to try to cram themselves even into towns of a few hundred people to watch the eclipse.
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Apr 2, 2024 15:19
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I watched the 2017 eclipse in my backyard at home in Riverton, Wyoming. My aunt and uncle from Montana visited and decided to leave shortly after totality ended. Traffic on 789 north and south was absolutely packed for most of the day and slowly crawled its way east toward Casper to I-25 or south toward Rawlins to get to I-80. My expectations are, rain or shine, that because the eastern half of the country is so dense, it's going to be 2017 times ten. My plans are to be on the road by 5 am to Erie, PA, from Pittsburgh and stake out a place at a park or field with my telescope, lawn chair, and a cooler. I'll hang out until evening before heading back. I can't afford to spend the night, but I took the day after off to recover from a long day. I'm still trying to find someone to come with so I'm not by myself, but I've never been able to get through to anyone that just looking up is worthwhile.
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Apr 2, 2024 20:36
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I'm this close to diverting to southern Illinois at this point. I just don't have the scratch to spend the night somewhere and sleeping in my car would make me paranoid all night and tired.
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Apr 6, 2024 17:08
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root of all eval posted:I can point out places with 24 hours showers and bathrooms and about a billion quiet county roads you could nap on near Mount Vernon. It's my home town and I know the area very well I'm probably overreacting, but I also forgot to factor in that the time of totality will be earlier local time the further west I go from Pittsburgh. I think I'm going to end up trying to meet some other 3AP people at Cuyahoga Valley near Akron, Ohio. I'm waiting to figure it out by Sunday evening. Too bad it's going to be pretty clear on Sunday. Star Man fucked around with this message at 22:22 on Apr 6, 2024 |
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Apr 6, 2024 22:11
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It's game day. Good luck to all of you. I have my ten-inch Dobsonian telescope packed in my back seat, a cooler, drawing pad and tackle box, and a whole lot of hope things work out for viewing. Didn't think I'd be diverting to Akron, Ohio, but here we go. Clear skies.
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Apr 8, 2024 10:06
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We're looking good here in Doylestown, Ohio. 
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Apr 8, 2024 17:09
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WE GOT A PROMINENCE
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Apr 8, 2024 20:29
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Today's eclipse was much darker than it was in 2017. I concede the clouds factored into it, but in Wyoming in 2017 it was brighter on the ground at totality. The level of light on the ground was comparable to what it was today like about ten minutes before totality. We suspect because of higher solar activity, the corona was not as expansive as it was in 2017. The 2017 corona was visually four big spikes, but this one was smaller and more rays all around, plus the prominence.
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Apr 8, 2024 22:54
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I have more to post when I get back home to Pittsburgh. One of our telescopes had a hydrogen-alpha eyepiece for looking at the surface of the sun. I'm confident that the middle prominence is the one that stuck out during totality. We figure it was two or three Earth-diameters in length.
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Apr 9, 2024 05:20
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 05:05 |
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duodenum posted:Kids and I went to a grocery store parking lot in a small town west of Waco TX and had a perfectly clear patch of sky when totality happened. Because no one cares. Don't let the sudden influx of eclipse tourists make you think there's a lot of interest in celestial events like a total solar eclipse or a great comet. No one fuckin cares. I've been evangelizing amateur astronomy since the day I picked up The How and Why Wonder Book of Stars from a bookshelf in my second grade classroom, not even a month after meeting an astronaut at my grandparents' fortieth wedding anniversary in 1994. My parents (or maybe my grandparents first) gave me the nickname Star Man because of it. And no one ever fuckin cares. I could strap someone to a stretcher and staple their eyelids open and they will spontaneously combust if it means not looking up at a crescent moon. I don't know what it is. People just don't understand what things are unless it directly affects them and don't learn because reading hurts and education is inconvenient at all ages. I'll try to tell people to go outside and look at Venus and it's met with complete indifference. "It's too cloudy." "There's too much light pollution." "I don't care." I don't care how many millions of people saw this total eclipse of the sun, but approximately two or three individuals will ever so much as learn how to find the Big Dipper.
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Apr 10, 2024 00:02
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