We were pretty much dead center in the totality trace for the eclipse. We had broken clouds that allowed intermittent direct viewing. When the thickness of the clouds was perfect, I could get excellent iPhone pics.
At full totality, the darkness was surprising. Street lights came on. It was as dark as about 1 hour after sundown -- not fully nighttime, but eerily dark.
Never been in a total before, and I had to drive bout 450 miles to do it.
The thing I was not ready for was that it was sunset in all directions. Easily explained of course: just after normal sunset the sun is still lighting the clouds behind it, a very limited volume of the atmosphere from where one is standing; but in this case the sun is lighting up all the clouds everywhere that the moon is not blocking. They are still on the distant horizon but in all directions. Coolness!
I was ready to see Venus higher in the sky than I’ve ever seen or will again. Again, coolness!
I've never experienced a FULL solar eclipse...I note you say you saw Venus as high as you've ever seen her before; but, did even 1st and 2nd magnitude stars (180 degrees off, zodiacally speaking) actually ALSO appear for a few minutes (though necessitating non-urban viewing)? Alpha Canis Majoris?
The corona'd make 3rd and fainter stuff un-viewable? Unless maybe you have rods and cones like some nocturnal predator...
(Admittedly I ought to be more up on what's apogee...maybe I ought to take up stargazing again as I did when youthful...
I drove ~175 km to see the one in 2017 - and *very* glad I did. I wouldn't *quite* call it a "life moment", but I also would be hesitant to not call it that. In fact, I'd lean towards "yes". It's the kind of thing that you can't describe adequately. And different folks notice different aspects more. For me the most amazing thing was just the 'character' of the appearance of things with the light of only the corona - immediately before and after totality. I don't think it's technically polarized, but sorta has that general 'feeling'. And yeah, the sunset all around was quite noteworthy. I don't think the media in general make it clear how much it needs to be totality to notice the best stuff. Like the pink highlights in the corona. Some lesser things you can maybe see at 98-99%, but not anywhere near what you can see at 100%. I'm sure there are those who think 80% obscuration is 80% as good as 100%. Not even. Even 96-97% isn't in the conversation, except maybe animals behave differently. Good on ya, joey!
>>Date: Sun Apr 14 02:41:36 2024
>>User: TNmountainman
>>Message: I'm sure there are those who think 80% obscuration is 80% as good as 100%. Not even. Even 96-97% isn't in the conversation, except maybe animals behave differently.
This was my first 100% eclipse. We had a lot of clouds (at least 80% cloud cover), so we didn't get the full night sky effect.
The entire time leading up to the totality, people around us kept muttering, "I thought it would be darker." This continued right up to the full eclipse. But when it transitioned from 98% to 100%, everything changed. THAT was amazing.
There was a total eclipse here in the UK back in August 1999. I remember being mildly disappointed with how long it lasted - ie. not very - but it was still pretty cool (literally) that I didn't have to travel anywhere to see it, plus it got us all out of the office for a lil while, so anything for that. Loved seeing the much-better-resolution photos of the one last week compared to 25 years ago.
I noticed that it was gradual going from light to dark (total eclipse), but it seemed to get back to regular light a lot faster. I'm still glad that I saw the total eclipse, in person ! Oh, and the drop in temperature during the total eclipse was interesting, too...about ten degrees or so.
I've seen three total eclipses, the first in my home town in October 1976, the second in my state in the outback up north in December 2002 and the third in the Arctic Ocean aboard an icebreaker in August 2008. The second one was less than a minute but it happened just before sunset so the sun set as a big crescent.
Punster, that’s your physiology. Your retina’s dark-adaptation had started to kick in (though it takes two hours or so to get to 100%, it’s well underway in minutes). Same thing thing that makes you squint like mad when the wife flips on the overheads when you’re lying down in a dark room.
Gearing up for August 12th, 2045.
And May 7th 2049.
We had a spectacular view in east central Arkansas. The thick clouds dissipated shortly after partiality started and the skies remained clear through totality.
I has my little telescope setup in a RV campground, sharing with several fellow campers, so watching the pink prominences dance around the midnight-black orb was pretty cool.
I second (or third) that even a 99% eclipse is nothing like totality. For the hours as totality approached, everyone was excited, watching and waiting. Less than 60 seconds after totality when it's still a 99% partial, everyone wandered back to their other adventures.
I was glad to share the experience with my grandkids, 7 and 9, so they can say (in 2045) "I remember back, years ago - decades ago, seeing a total eclipse with my grandpa. We....."