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[joebanks]

It was epic. we had high clouds that were worrisome, but only marginally affected the eclipse. About 20 minutes after the start the decline in light started to become noticeable. Using my pinhole viewer, i was able to track the moon moving over the disc of the sun. An hour in, at 3:00, the darkness started to grow quickly. Watching through the glasses was fun but when totality came and we could take off our glasses was amazing, shocking, epic! The clouds blocked a little of the aura so that flowing cotton candy look as seen in some pictures was absent, but it was there and a few flares were visible in red. Younger eyes would have helped. There was sort of sunset colors all around the horizon and the sky was a dark hazy blue; the clouds again? but on the ground it was dark, night. Too quickly the sun popped over the edge and within a minute it was daylight; though the shadows remained different and the colors seemed more vivid. I got to see this once and wish i could see it again. We've had a couple partial eclipses over the years, where there was some darkening of the daylight, but nothing like this.

Comments

[rebec]

Partial eclipses are fun, but even the ones with a high percentage aren't even in the same universe with a total eclipse. We had about 34%, hardly even worth a pinhole in an index card. I wish I could have seen it! It's so wonderful that you did. I guess I won't get a chance at this point. When I was in college there was one over Oregon/Washington I think; that's the closest I've ever been.

I don't know what it's like with a solar eclipse, but even with a lunar eclipse you get this amazing sense of things taking place on a level that's completely beyond you... I don't know how to describe it exactly. But one thing that brings it home is the silence: these gigantic forces moving, inexorably doing what they do, but beyond the realm of sound waves and atmosphere and earth, your little enclosure.

Thanks for the great description.

[joebanks]

Honestly, i think you're right, the lunar eclipse has this majesty because it takes so long, you can calm down and get a grip on things. While obviously, this was something special on another scale; it was so quick, even taking in the 10 minutes before totality, when it really started to get dark, it moved so quick.

One of these days i'll write about the Amazon delivery during the event.

Thank you.