The Exploder said:

I'm scared.

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IndoAssassin said:

So how do Flat Earthers explain Solar Eclipses?

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ScottSullivan said:

damn might not be able to see this in alaska...

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Chris R said:

ANC - PDX round trip for $300 on Alaska... That's what I'm doing lol

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Teriyaki Blues said:

1) Use a "pinhole" method to watch instead of risking your eyesight.

2) Enjoy.

3) Do not feed it, Seymour.

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superdeluxe said:

What are people's plans? I'm assuming everything is going to be a zoo. I feel like even getting on the road to get in the totality area is going to be difficult. My plan is to get near madras and go east till it clears up

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Onset of Totality
Partiality deepens even more, and the atmosphere actually starts to be a little scary. The sky gets deeper and deeper dark blue, and the Sun-sliver gets thin enough that you can actually (through your filters, remember?) start to see it shrinking as you watch it. In the five minutes before totality, you can really get a feel for how earth-shatteringly frightening this event must have been to ancient people who had no idea what was going on. We can truly believe that people could have been frightened to death! But not us - the spectacle gets your heart beating fast, your mouth watering for more, and your whole body trembling with excitement that you're being swept along in a wonderful dance of the cosmos that nothing is going to stop. But we're all too "modern" to allow anything like this to affect us...emotionally, right? Don't you believe it!


As the last bite of the Sun slides away, things happen way too fast to describe concisely. You simply cannot focus on every one of the events that are taking place all around you, so you have to pick the few that seem the coolest to you. (There will be more eclipses, after all, and in about 5 minutes you're going to be on the phone making travel plans to see the next one!) The most important thing going on is the actual Sun up in the sky, but let's take a peek at just a couple of other things first.

The sky surrounding the Sun will grow very dark very quickly. In real time, you will be able to see the deep blue turn to twilight blue, and then to bluish-black. Stars and planets will pop out of nowhere. Roosters will crow and insects will chirp as though night is falling. If you look to the west, you'll see a beautiful black curtain rising up out of the Earth, with hints of sunset-orange north and south of it, while off to the east, the sky at the horizon is still rather light. On the ground, your shadow will become impossibly clear and thin, and then will vanish completely as the Sun's light fades to about the intensity of the full Moon. In the last few seconds before totality, that dull blackness you saw off to the west will suddenly spring up out of the Earth, and take over the whole sky like a gigantic curtain being pulled over you - like that scene in the original Disney Fantasia movie - only about a hundred times faster. If you aren't focused on the Sun at that time (like most people will be), you'll be looking at the actual shadow of the Moon racing toward you at supersonic speed, covering you with its blackness. If you see that, you're very lucky, because it happens so fast. And besides, you'll probably be too awe-struck by what's going on center stage...

As the last sliver of Sun melts away, you will be able to see several things happening simultaneously. You will now definitely have the feeling that there are two bodies involved, because it is impossible to miss the disk of the Moon in these last seconds. (You should still be watching through the eclipse glasses, by the way.) But while the last bit of the sliver is shrinking, the Sun's corona will start to come out. The last little bit of the Sun's light will glare through valleys on the Moon, and will create a "bead" effect at the edge of the Moon's disk. These are called "Baily's Beads", and they are stunning. These will dance around a little, and then will fade away as the very last one of them brightens into a huge bead. Around the edge of the Moon, the Sun's corona will begin to glow, giving us the famous "diamond ring" effect. It lasts for only about 2-3 seconds, but it is stunning beyond words. Most people will take their filters off at this point (though technically, you're not supposed to look until the diamond ring is totally gone, we're just saying that most people choose to do it anyway). You will see the corona burst into view as the diamond fades away, appearing as though someone is smearing wispy-white cotton candy all around the impossibly black hole that's been cut out of the fabric of the blue-black sky. (We are convinced that the corona comes out while the diamond is still blazing away, and it is a beautiful sight to see.) There may be tongues of red fire visible around the edge of the Sun - these are solar prominences, and no one knows what they will look like until they see them right along with you.

Someone will blow a whistle to signify that totality has officially begun, and you can take your viewing glasses and all your filters off, and stare away. If there's no whistle, then once you can't see anything at all with your filters, take them off! You will see nothing if you keep them on, and now, during totality, they're not necessary! Keep them in your hand for when totality is over, but use your eyes. Use your binoculars with impunity. Don't look away if you can help it. The diamond is gone, all the sun's light is blocked, and you're looking at the most beautiful thing you're likely to ever see - the solar corona, shimmering around the Moon's disk brilliantly (and which is only about as bright as the full Moon). It will look to you as though someone has painted the sky a deep blue-black, has cut an impossibly-black hole in it with a pair of scissors, and then smeared radiant, glowing, shimmering cotton candy around that hole. No picture in the world can do justice to the sight you have before you, and you will want to etch it in your memory forever. Ten years from now, you'll still be able to imagine this sight in your mind - so burn it in there now, while you can. Listen to the people around you scream and yell and hoot and holler and yell "Oh My God" and do whatever else it is they do when there's nothing else to do but blither like a mad fool. Look and enjoy the gift you've been given - and be amazed.

If you have a second to look away, look at the horizon all around you. It will be the orange of a sunset, all the way around the whole horizon! You are in the middle of the circle of shadow that the Moon has projected onto the surface of the Earth, and all around you at the horizon, the eclipse is not total! You're seeing the sunset effects of the Sun's light from a hundred miles away or so, all around you! It will be too dark for you to see anything close at hand, but remember NO flashlights, NO flash pictures (they won't come out, and you'll ruin the scientists' pictures). Just stand there and enjoy it. Hoot and holler all you want. Talk to the Sun. Thank it for its gift in your own special way. After all, whatever craziness happens in the shadow, stays in the shadow.

After the initial cheers from the crowd, the atmosphere will settle a little, and you'll be tempted to look away. This is the stage where you have to remember that you're only going to get this show for a minute or two, and you have to record it in your mind in order to keep it forever. NO pictures will ever do it justice, so whatever you store in your brain is what you're going to be left with. Enjoy it, and immerse yourself in it. Tomorrow, you will look at the pictures in the paper, and you won't believe that those are pictures of what you remember seeing! (We told you so!)

You'll know when totality is finally coming to an end, because the western sky will brighten dramatically. The shadow is racing along to the next group of eagerly-awaiting victims to the east, and your time is sadly coming to an end. The right side of the Sun's black disk will brighten a little, you may see prominences or chromosphere again, and some people will plaintively yell "no, please don't go away". Just like that, the corona will dim, the diamond ring will flash into view on the right side of the Sun's disk (and it's time again for your eclipse glasses to go on!), the whistle will blow, the beads will come back, and it will be over. That bright bead of sunlight tells you that the Sun has come back, and you need to IMMEDIATELY put on your viewing glasses or filters. Totality is gone for you, and you will desperately want it to not be gone. Your brain will be frantically clearing its buffers, filing away the overload of memories of what you've just seen into permanent storage, and your body will be weak from the adrenaline crash that now comes over you. Everyone will cheer like idiots. The shadows will come back, the sky will brighten, and the sliver of Sun will majestically return. This is third contact - the end of totality - and you've just joined the very select, very small percentage of humans who have witnessed a total solar eclipse. Congratulations!

Source: http://www.eclipse2017.org/2017/what_you_see.htm

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TangoAlphaLima said:

When do we get a total eclipse of the heart tho?

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HylianTom said:

woo! I just got a week of vacation for August approved, timed for this event. My mother-in-law just bought a condo in eastern TN, so we have a place to stay..

I'd also add: North America won't have many of these events over the next 50 years. When I did the math on my life expectancy and realized that I only have a few eclipses left, taking time off was a no-brainer.

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falconxcrunner09 said:

So why is it that you can literally go blind by looking at it and you need special eye wear or use the pin hole trick?

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Clockwork5 said:

1. It will be dark out and your pupils will be wide open.
2. It is relatively comfortable to stare right at the sun during an eclipse.
3. There are still enough UV rays emanating from the solar aura around the moon to damage your eyesight.

It's really not much different than staring at the sun during the day except it's not painful and your eyes aren't protecting themselves.

I will have total eclipse status about 30 min from my house!!! I'm ready.

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Don't forget to look at the eclipse!

If you're watching the eclipse from the path of totality, you should absolutely remove your eclipse glasses during totality. "In fact, if you keep your filters on during totality, you won't see anything" because they block out almost all light, Fienberg said.

However, if you're watching the partial solar eclipse from other parts of the U.S., you'll need to keep them on the entire time. If you take them off, not only do you risk burning your eyes, but you also won't be able to see the eclipse. [What You’ll See During the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse]

"A total solar eclipse is truly spectacular and awesome in the true meaning of the word 'awesome,' whereas a partial solar eclipse could pass unnoticed," Fienberg said.

"Even if you do have a solar filter and watch the sun turn into a thin crescent, it's nowhere near as exciting as a total eclipse, because you miss all the really spectacular phenomena that are associated with totality. It doesn't get dark, you don't see the corona, you don't see bright red prominences of gas jetting off from the edge of the sun. It's just not the same at all."

So get to the path of totality if you can. And whatever you do, don't forget to bring the right kind of eye protection!

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ScottSullivan said:

Wow you're flying all the way to portland for this? I guess it is a twice in a liftime thing...

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B.K. said:

I'm planning to take the day off and drive about a hour to a place that is going to be in the line of totality. What are some good glasses to buy to watch it? Are there any good, cheap filers to put on the end of binoculars? I found these on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZYKRH1V/?tag=neogaf0e-20

but they don't look very safe to me.

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