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Post by Shinko on Jul 30, 2017 18:59:44 GMT -5
Probably most of you are aware by now, but just in case you're not, there will be a total solar eclipse on Monday, August 21st of this year. Partial eclipses will be visible across the entire North American continent and the northernmost parts of South America, but the total eclipse will be visible only in a narrow strip across the center of the USA. What makes this unique is the fact that this is the first time in 99 years that a total eclipse is going to be visible across the entirety of the contiguous United States- IE, the mainland part not including Alaska and Hawaii. COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE WORLD EVERYBODY! In all seriousness. XD Anybody have plans for this? It'll be totally cool to watch if I can swing it. I'm not in one of the zones that's totally eclipsed, but I should at least be able to see a partial, provided I don't get too busy with that being the first day of the fall semester at the university where I work.
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Post by Twillie on Jul 30, 2017 19:09:19 GMT -5
Oh man, I've been hearing about this for a while now, I'm pretty excited! My dad's huge into astronomy and is part of the astronomy club for our city, so he's been doing a bunch of planning and advertising for this event alongside the rest of the group.
I'll be away at school when this happens (this will actually be on the first day of classes, lol no one's gonna show up to them xD), and it's maybe a ten, twenty minute drive away from the total eclipse area, so I'll definitely be sure to see it! Plus, because of aforementioned dad in astronomy club, free sun protective glasses x)
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Post by Gelquie on Jul 30, 2017 19:12:45 GMT -5
My family actually seriously considered a trip to one of the parts of the country where the solar eclipse was in totality. But then we decided against it due to inconvenience, and also because in my case, it's too close to the time when I'd have to move. Alaska is still going to get a partial solar eclipse, though! Plans are to see it and probably use the pinhole method to view it safely. ^^ (Now watch the skies be overcast on the day of the eclipse.) One thing my family figured out that was interesting. There's going to be another total solar eclipse in April 8, 2024; seven years later. The path for that eclipse crosses over the path for the 2017 eclipse in a way that forms an X just a few miles south of the town of Carbondale, Illinois. So they get 2 total solar eclipses in seven years. xD (There's a lot of sources; here's just one: eclipse.siu.edu/about/carbondale-and-the-solar-eclipse/ ) I'd call it a tourist hotspot for the eclipses if I wasn't informed that Carbondale is an absolutely boring place to be aside from its university. It just happens to be the hotspot for astronomical occurrences in this case.
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Post by Rabbit ♠ on Jul 30, 2017 19:17:09 GMT -5
Ah, cool page, I'm in neither of those places. |D Seriously, this is awesome. I love this stuff.
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Post by June Scarlet on Jul 30, 2017 19:22:42 GMT -5
I hear some schools around here are going to close because of it. Something about it being technically a hazard to driving or something, so technically they can't release children from the school while it's happening. Some schools are closing because they don't think anyone will show up. And some schools are running as normal.
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Post by Geo 🇺🇦 🌻 on Jul 30, 2017 20:26:30 GMT -5
I'm right on the edge of the path of totality so I may get some filters and just go outside to watch, call it a work break. I also sit on the 9th floor of an office tower so I may just look from a window if I'm very busy that day and have a lot of meetings. Fortunately the actual occurrence is shortly after lunch so the likelihood of meetings around that time is very slim.
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Post by Ian Wolf-Park on Jul 30, 2017 21:19:39 GMT -5
Ooh, this should be interesting. Of course, it also depends if the weather will cooperate on that day, but we'll see.
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Post by Breakingchains on Jul 31, 2017 1:38:25 GMT -5
I've been looking forward to it! I'm about an hour north of the path of totality, so I'll probably drive to the state park with some friends and watch it.
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Post by Allison on Aug 1, 2017 22:53:00 GMT -5
I'm about two miles from totality, and could literally watch totality from the Walmart parking lot if I wanted to. There are also some conservative areas and a state park about 30 minutes away. Also, for the 2024 eclipse, totality will be about 2 hours south of me. My college town, Cape Girardeau, MO, is just west of Carbondale, IL. My college, along with the college in Carbondale are both in the path of both eclipses. Oh and I am taking off work for it and totally told my supervisors that's why I'm taking off, and it's because I can be a bit of a geek at times, if they hadn't noticed.
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Post by Carolyn on Aug 4, 2017 10:55:54 GMT -5
Our family vacation to Virginia is around then, but my new job starts that Friday. I wonder if I can take a greyhound bus back to NJ after driving from Virginia to S. Carolina for the eclipse?
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Post by Geo 🇺🇦 🌻 on Aug 8, 2017 14:37:25 GMT -5
I've rescheduled a meeting at work so I can go outside when the eclipse happens. Now the only thing that needs to cooperate is the weather.
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Post by June Scarlet on Aug 14, 2017 16:48:37 GMT -5
I went to a presentation about this at my local planetarium today. It was really quite informative, I learned a lot. You get snippets here and there, but it was nice to just have it all together at once, and it filled in a lot of details. Anyway, the presenter recommended this website to learn more: eclipse2017.nasa.gov/And this interactive map to figure out when and where your location will experience the event of the year. eclipse2017.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/interactive_map/index.html
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Post by June Scarlet on Aug 20, 2017 21:46:08 GMT -5
Remember this is tomorrow~!
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Post by Shinko on Aug 20, 2017 21:48:41 GMT -5
The library where I work is going to have a livestream of it running on the monitor behind the circulation desk, so even if I am trapped at work I can still watch. Has excites. = D
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Post by Gelquie on Aug 20, 2017 23:01:31 GMT -5
*Looks outside.* *Checks the weather for tomorrow.* ...Of course it's gonna be overcast. ='D
Maybe I'll watch a livestream or something? Not sure yet.
In any case, people probably already know this, but just a reminder to never look directly at the sun. If you're in the path of totality and it's currently a total eclipse, you can look up and it'll be the same brightness as a full moon. But besides that, never look directly at it. You'll need either specialized glasses for it or need to project the image of the eclipse onto something else, like with pinhole projection.
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