I remember the eclipse in 2017. The RVing group we belonged to planned a meet in Oregon for that "event." We declined. I can't imagine driving for hours/days to see "darkness" for 2 minutes. Walking out into the yard is a different matter.
Beth, I wouldn't travel to see it either. If I can't see it from the comfort of my home, I'm not interested. I hate traffic and crowds!
The most memorable eclipse is the one I didn't know was coming. As a kid, I remember going up the road and it just started getting darker unexpectedly. It was a totally weird experience.
Trying not to speak out of school, but I think that what most astronomy enthusiasts are trying to get a picture of is the full aurora. Only partial auroras can be seen from other areas that are less than 100% eclipses. For some, it might be a “once in a lifetime” experience. Just guessing.
The town is already filling up with people who came early for the eclipse. I already hate the traffic here, and we're still a few days away from the eclipse. The town, the library, school, churches, businesses, and organizations are planning things. Given that we don't have one open space large enough for everyone to view the eclipse, I suppose, there will be viewing places throughout town and outside of town, although, unless my wife talks me into something, I plan on going out in the back yard to look at the thing through the silly glasses we have for it. I think it would be a lot simpler to go outside at midnight, any night, and pretend that it's noon.
It’s getting crazy here too. Lots of souvenir venders and food trucks are setting up all over. RV’s, campers, buses, and cars are rolling in. The smaller airports are busy and hectic with the air traffic coming in as is the train stations. Apparently everyone has eclipse fever, or just looking for a reason to party. I believe I read Nasa will be here again also.
Too far away for me to worry about it. If you have a welding helmet, it can be used to view the eclipse I think. I don't know how many welders post here.
NASA has an eclipse page that you can put in your zip code and it shows you when the eclipse happens in your area, and how much totality you will see. Here in Huntsville, it shows we have about 90% totality, and the whole thing lasts about 3 hours from start to finish. They show the eclipse from the website, so people can watch it that way from anywhere. Bobby has a chiropractor appointment right at the time we have total coverage here; so it looks like we will be out driving for most of the same time that the eclipse is happening. I am not sure if I like that or not. We hardly ever drive after dark, plus it is supposed to be raining, so NOT a good time to be out on the road.
I was about 12 miles away from the center of the path of the 2017 eclipse. What surprised me was how such a small distance away made such a big difference, not only in how dark it got, but also the amount of time where it looked much different from just another cloudy day. That only lasted about a minute where I was. Of course it looked odd because the sky was clear. Whereas I guess if you're in the center it lasts for 3+ minutes as has been said. Imo, it's worth it to be at the exact center of the path if you're close by. If I had known that beforehand, I would have driven the 12 miles.
I just lol thinking of the movie Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court starring Danny Kaye and a total eclipse.
I thought the same thing, but it was Bing Crosby, not Danny Kaye who starred. Danny Kaye starred in The Court Jester, one of my favorite movies of all time, mostly because of Danny Kaye and Angela Lansbury. The pellet with the poison....