Totality in Buffalo but it was cloudy. We were able to see a bit before and after through some breaks in the clouds but didn't see any part of totality. I just wanted 1 second, that’s it. Nope. We did see it about 99% though before the clouds obscured it. But the decrease in temp and the darkness was incredible. The birds were going crazy and then silence and darkness. Our porch lights came on - it was eerie and awesome at the same time.
My older kid got a really awesome pic. She was here at home alone - I was very impressed!
I was at work and we managed to step out of the store to see it. There were people in our parking lot with lawn chairs, hugging and celebrating. It was so odd for a myriad of reasons. We weren’t in totality and really, our parking lot is completely random. I just don’t get it.
My neighbor told me 1 out of 2 people will cry when they see a total solar eclipse. My sister’s family went and were 0 out of 4.
lol. I watched it with 9 coworkers and there were no tears!
He meant where it is 100% coverage, which is apparently a completely different experience than even the 93% we saw in the Boston area. We watched it too and it was pretty underwhelming! But my sister drove to Canada to be at 100% and said it was really cool! But still no tears for them LOL
lol. I watched it with 9 coworkers and there were no tears!
He meant where it is 100% coverage, which is apparently a completely different experience than even the 93% we saw in the Boston area. We watched it too and it was pretty underwhelming! But my sister drove to Canada to be at 100% and said it was really cool! But still no tears for them LOL
Lol, I wonder where they got the stat 1 out of 2! I def wouldn’t cry either
Post by timorousbeastie on Apr 8, 2024 21:29:06 GMT -5
That was, without a doubt, the most unbelievably amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m so glad I got to experience totality with my H and DD. I can’t get over how much of a change there was as the sun disappeared - the temperature dropped, everything sounded different as the animals got quiet and the wind changed, colors looked so weirdly muted, almost sepia-toned. And the pure joy of everyone around us celebrating! In 2017, I just saw the partial eclipse, which I thought at the time was really pretty cool; but totality was just a whole different level. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would have been like to live in a world pre-science and experience that, not knowing what was going on. People’s minds must have been blown!
Traffic was definitely insane. We went to a park just outside of Toledo, normally only 15 minutes from the MI border. It took 2 hours to make it from the park back into MI, and another 2 hours to make it the rest of the way home (normally would have been a little over an hour once we got back into MI). It was still worth every minute of the drive IMO. I’m now trying to figure out how to talk my H into going to Australia for their eclipse in 2028 😆
We were only 86% or something like that here, but my teen and I went to a local Observatory to watch it. That took it from, “Oh. Cool.” to “OMG, this is amazing!” Even he was in awe. Being Surrounded by a bunch of hobbyist astronomers with cool toys and getting to see it through the enormous telescopes was really fascinating. We could see sunspots (or flares? Or something!) on the moon that looked like little flecks, but they estimated were about the size of earth!
Having a conversation with someone who was talking about what we were seeing in relation to time blew my mind, too. (One telescope was focused on Jupiter today.)
Now we both want to go back to the Observatory and also go to the total eclipse in Australia in 2028! I don’t think *seeing* 95 vs 100% is all that different, but I think experiencing the difference is!
Success for totality in rural Ohio! I did get a little teary. It was beautiful and I was so grateful to be there with three generations of my family. My dad and stepmother both said that they didn’t think it lasted long enough. From the maps I saw, they live just outside the very edge (literally 99.995% according to one) so I had us drive up the road a few miles to a small unassuming little park we had scouted a few days earlier. We had a nice little picnic and the kids played and we kept checking and then we were bathed in the light of the diamond ring. The temperature fluctuated from 80 as low as 70 but that was over the course of about 90 mins, not all at once. It seems the path projections were off just a little because their very close neighbor (who from what I could tell was also “out”) saw totality at their house, too, although for only a few seconds. (That made me glad because I thought they were nuts for not coming with us!)
For some reason I expected MOTN levels of dark so when it was lighter than I expected I was a little disappointed but combined with the temp drop it was a really cool experience.
The kids had eclipse parties at school and we have video of them running around/shouting during totality. Definitely a core memory!
As amazing as it was I still don't think I would have driven hours to see it.
Post by basilosaurus on Apr 9, 2024 2:46:13 GMT -5
Gotdamn. Of all the times my insomnia to fail me this is the 3rd in a week. I wouldn't have experienced it in person, but I was wanting the live streams about the science. I love reading all your stories, the misses and the holy shit wows.
Post by litskispeciality on Apr 9, 2024 8:57:48 GMT -5
93% or so and it looked like early dawn, or maybe dusk. I had eclipse glasses from Amazon that said ISO (I know I know), but ended up with a headache. It was cool to see that tiny sliver of sun, but I think totality would have been more of an experience.
I saw reports of people stuck in 12+ hours of traffic, so I'm not sad I missed that. Trying to live through news feed and photos from friends who saw better totality.
Our drive back from NH took six hours instead of a little over three, so the kids were dragging this morning, but we all agreed it was a worthwhile adventure. We even ended up on the news, which was a real bonus in DD1's eyes.
Post by fortnightlily on Apr 9, 2024 10:58:29 GMT -5
We drove to Ohio. The drive back was terrible but I'm still glad we did it. The hype was warranted. I wish the people around me had been silent during the totality, I didn't really get to tell if the birds stopped chirping.
I still can't really believe how stark the difference is between even 1% of the sun showing and 0%. Anything short of the totality itself still feels like daytime, just a bit dimmer, like when it's hazy. If not for the glasses I'm not sure I'd fully realize there was an eclipse happening because a) I never look right at the sun, especially when it's high in the sky, and b) even the tiniest amount is still just so bright to the naked eye it washes out the obstruction.
But the moment it hit totality the world just transformed. Everything on the ground is in silhouette and there's this big white ring in the sky, a couple of the brightest stars/planets visible, and the horizon is this pretty sort of pre-dawn orange glow that fades into a deep blue (but not middle-of-the-night black) for the rest of the sky.
It's also just mind-blowing to me how perfectly the circumstances have to be for this to happen -- for the moon and sun at their relative sizes to be at just the exact right distances from each other and the earth to perfectly align in this way. In 200-300 million years it won't happen any more because the sun will have expanded and the moon have gotten further away.
We were in totality and there was no traffic here. I took a hike earlier yesterday and there was almost no cars on the road, many fewer cars than usual at that time. It was really weird! I guess maybe because all of the schools were closed?
He meant where it is 100% coverage, which is apparently a completely different experience than even the 93% we saw in the Boston area. We watched it too and it was pretty underwhelming! But my sister drove to Canada to be at 100% and said it was really cool! But still no tears for them LOL
Lol, I wonder where they got the stat 1 out of 2! I def wouldn’t cry either
I got choked up watching a TikTok of it! I'm into it--I tried to travel for this one and I'm hoping to go to Spain in 2026--but that surprised me!
100% totality was like nothing I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. Partial eclipse, cool. You can’t compare partial eclipse to 100% total eclipse. The difference in light, sound, temperature, energy, when it went from even just 99% to 100% was striking! The moment you could take off those classes and view it was just breathtaking!