2017 Eclipse

[Deepwater6]

Hi All,

 

I found this website with some good information about the upcoming eclipse. I have already scheduled some vacation time around the event, but have yet to select a site to see it. I'll be leaving from Pennsylvania so I would like to find something on the eastern side of the country.

 

Many people have booked hotel rooms in the path for month's. The way I intend to go about it is, not to book a room at a specific location on the path. Instead I'll try to see what the forecast says at different points along the path and drive to a site with the least amount of cloud cover.

 

So I'm asking if anyone has any suggestions for a great spot to witness the event? Hopefully with-in a day or day and a half drive from PA. I'm thinking a national park or something near a large body of water that anyone knows of. Maybe somewhere you visited while on vacation?  I'm open to any place that will make a great position to watch the eclipse.

 

I hope to have a list of locations and drive to where the forecasts indicate a clear sky.   :shade:

 

http://www.eclipse2017.org/2017/where_to_see.htm

 

 

[Turtle]

I'm about 100 40 miles N of the path of totality and will likely stay home and be content with about 90% totality from the back yard. My grandson brought me some viewing glasses today and I tried them over my camera lens to good effect. Alas I just missed the large sunspot AR2665 as it disappeared around the right-most edge. Nevertheless, I'm pretty jazzed at being able to now take solar photos for a mere $3.

Here's my shot:

Edited July 19, 2017 by Turtle

[hazelm]

Deepwater, recently we had a news item that Ballwin, MO would be the clearest site in our county.   Ballwin is a small town in St Louis County on Hwy 100 (Manchester Rd).  I cannot vouch for the accuracy of it but it might give you an idea.  And, of course, I need not say it is closer to PA than most areas that will see the eclipse.  Good luck.   Hazel

 

P S.  I just found this which is even better.

 

http://www.missourieclipse2017.com/

 

Jefferson Barracks also in St Louis County and they seem to be really planning something good.  Definitely a large open area there.  I suspect it will be crowded. 

Edited July 19, 2017 by hazelm

[Deepwater6]

Thanks hazelm, I've never been to MO so as long as it's not overcast I will put it on my shortlist. The site is/was helpful too, my first choice was going to be South Carolina (near the beach) thought it would be cool to see some of it over a body of water.

 

The site you provided has, among other things, estimated traffic predictions in graphs. It looks like a lot of people had the same idea and are intending to go to SC. The predictions for that state are in some cases 2-3 times as high as in some other states. A small town or some lesser known state park with just a few people will be fine with me.

 

These guys put together this task force that started in 2014.... impressive.

 

Like Turtle, I just received my viewing glasses :shade:  in the mail as well. I guess you could say I'm jazzed up too. I put in for vacation on this week two years ago and out of the 100 or so fellow employees, I don't think there is a one that doesn't know I'm going to this magic show.

[JMJones0424]

I live in Texas, and I've already secured two weeks of vacation time.  My plan is to drive roughly north to intersect the path of totality while watching the weather to avoid clouds.  I do not have any lodging arrangements, and I likely wouldn't be able to reasonably afford them at this late date anyway.  However, I don't mind sleeping in my vehicle or in a tent, and I'm a bit more flexible this way.  I don't have viewing glasses.  I'm bringing my welding hood, a cheap refracting telescope with a fabricated, adjustable length white background behind the eyepiece for safe viewing , and a fabricated pinhole camera made from a cardboard tube with tracing paper on the viewing end.  I don't have a decent camera, and I'm not planning on buying one.  I suspect others will take better pictures than I can ever hope to take.  I just want to view this event in person.

Edited July 24, 2017 by JMJones0424

[Turtle]

I live in Texas, and I've already secured two weeks of vacation time.  My plan is to drive roughly north to intersect the path of totality while watching the weather to avoid clouds.  I do not have any lodging arrangements, and I likely wouldn't be able to reasonably afford them at this late date anyway.  However, I don't mind sleeping in my vehicle or in a tent, and I'm a bit more flexible this way.  I don't have viewing glasses.  I'm bringing my welding hood, a cheap refracting telescope with a fabricated, adjustable length white background behind the eyepiece for safe viewing , and a fabricated pinhole camera made from a cardboard tube with tracing paper on the viewing end.  I don't have a decent camera, and I'm not planning on buying one.  I suspect others will take better pictures than I can ever hope to take.  I just want to view this event in person.

I would double check on the safety of the helmet. The glasses are only about $3 and surely more comfortable. Also, you might take a light jacket as the temperature will drop considerably at totality.

 

Sounds like a grand plan. We'll all have to report back on our experiences.

[JMJones0424]

According to NASA my welding equipment should be fine.  I am comfortable using it and while three dollars is cheap, zero dollars is cheaper.  Totality will be but a handful of minutes, so I plan to pack for the summer weather in the Nebraska area, which does not include a jacket.  I would like any ideas on how long my improvised pinhole camera should be, as I am flying blind in this area.

Edited July 24, 2017 by JMJones0424

[Turtle]

According to NASA my welding equipment should be fine.  I am comfortable using it and while three dollars is cheap, zero dollars is cheaper.  Totality will be but a handful of minutes, so I plan to pack for the summer weather in the Nebraska area, which does not include a jacket.  I would like any ideas on how long my improvised pinhole camera should be, as I am flying blind in this area.

I was half jesting on the jacket. Hip flask?

 

Here's NASA's take on the pinhole camera. (Slightly misleading for the commoner to hear 'camera' as it may imply taking a photograph. Camera obscura notwithstanding.)

Eclipse pinhole camera @ NASA

[JMJones0424]

I firmly maintain that there exists no place worth going if a flask is not part of the gear!

 

Perhaps my fault is in the design.  I imagined an apparatus that was specifically the correct length between the pinhole on the front and the focal point at the rear to provide for a single representation of the sun on the tracing paper which could be safely viewed.  Now that I think about it, it seems to me that this distance is far more discrete than I should expect the length of my cardboard tube construction to be.

 

I am somewhat confident in my cheapo refraction telescope design (in which I can adjust the focal point on a white plane through the eyepiece), and I am very confident in the safety of my welding hood.  I am, however, beginning to second-guess my pinhole camera rig, as I cannot easily adjust the focal length.  As the link you have provided shows, it may be better for me to divorce the pinhole from the focal point so that I can adjust the length in the moment.

 

Is there a better approach, or should I just abandon this and focus on (filtered) direct visual observation coupled with the projection from the refraction telescope?

[Turtle]

I firmly maintain that there exists no place worth going if a flask is not part of the gear!

 

Perhaps my fault is in the design.  I imagined an apparatus that was specifically the correct length between the pinhole on the front and the focal point at the rear to provide for a single representation of the sun on the tracing paper which could be safely viewed.  Now that I think about it, it seems to me that this distance is far more discrete than I should expect the length of my cardboard tube construction to be.

 

I am somewhat confident in my cheapo refraction telescope design (in which I can adjust the focal point on a white plane through the eyepiece), and I am very confident in the safety of my welding hood.  I am, however, beginning to second-guess my pinhole camera rig, as I cannot easily adjust the focal length.  As the link you have provided shows, it may be better for me to divorce the pinhole from the focal point so that I can adjust the length in the moment.

 

Is there a better approach, or should I just abandon this and focus on (filtered) direct visual observation coupled with the projection from the refraction telescope?

:lol: Cheers to that flask!

 

Since the NASA pinhole camera is simple and small, you may as well make it & take it along. While totality is short-lived, the entire beginning to end is long enough for you to try all methods and decide which you want to use during totality. Might as well try using whatever camera you have to grab some shots of the projections too. If they turn out great, and if not no big deal.

 

On a side-note, there are no spots on the Sun today, but I will grab a shot or two through the glasses if any show up.

[connorbro]

That's a cool site. I need to look for a viewing glasses. 

[Deepwater6]

https://www.space.com/33797-total-solar-eclipse-2017-guide.html

 

I have officially attained the mental state of :xx:  eclipsomania :xx:   My biggest fear now is traffic, traffic, traffic. If there is a large storm system, or a remnant of one in the center of the country that day, it could get ugly on both coasts.  :weather_rain: 

[Deepwater6]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/03/us/libraries-sunglasses-eclipse-trnd/index.html

 

For those of you still seeking eclipse glasses you can't beat this price.

[Deepwater6]

Absolutely incredible, crazy incredible. watched from Tennessee in a park near a lake. I expected totality would bring darkened skies, along with the crickets suddenly starting to chirp and the stars coming out. (which it all did}, but, I figured the moon would look like a dark disk with the suns atmosphere creating a slight halo around the outside of it.

 

It was not like that at all, the entire moon lit up like a brilliant white disk and looking more like a sparkling white dwarf star. The brilliant white fire from the sun's corona seemed to envelope the whole moon from all sides with a light similar to one created by a welders spark.....incredible!! 

[DrKrettin]

I envy you the experience. Where we live, we managed to see a partial eclipse almost exactly at sunset over the sea. It was a misty horizon, which was ideal for seeing the sun without needing glasses. 

 

It must have been a hard day for the flat.earthers. Here is their explanation for an eclipse.

[Deepwater6]

Don't envy me too much Dr. It took me a traffic riddled ten hours down from PA to Tennessee and 9 hours back. I do believe it was worth it and would do it again but would definitely plan better. The park we intended to go to and actually parked at for a few minutes was a mob scene. The park didn't open until 8am so there was a line of cars along the country road for miles. When it opened rangers and policemen were parking people in large farm fields then transporting people down to the lake by hay wagon. When I saw what was going on I turned around (after sitting in line for hours) and left to find another spot.

 

As I was coming in I saw a service road so I tried it, that took me right to the lakeside a little further up the road and there were only about 20 people who caught on and found the spot. Very odd, my luck is never that good. I met a friend and his girlfriend down there and he had his huge self tracking scope with him so a hay ride wasn't going to work for us.

 

Where were you viewing from?

 

https://www.space.com/37906-total-solar-eclipse-2017-alaska-airlines-flight.html

[Turtle]

I took photos through my glasses every 10 minutes and put them into a movie. Totality here by Portland OR reported as 99.4%.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrXmtB2x9uE