Eclipse 2017

Hey ! The nearby "cruise" thread reminded poor old DonDiego of the solar eclipse he cruised under in 1998, and that reminded him of the solar eclipse he drove to in Virginia Beach, VA with college buddies in 1970, . . . but never mind about those.

There is a solar eclipse scheduled to cross right over the Good Ole' USofA on 21 August next year, . . . and if the reader can possibly get to somewhere in the path of totality, he should. It is worth seeing. No matter what. But the reader must place himself within the 60-mile-wide total eclipse shadow or it ain't worth crap. So get there. DO IT!

Although the eclipse path does cross the southern Appalachians, DonDiego has been planning to head West, as the chance of clear skies is somewhat better.
He's already learned that in some places, . . . like, f'rinstance, Casper, Wyoming it's already difficult to find lodging over the weekend preceding the Monday astronomical event.
It's pr'bly worse over in Idaho, where lots of the bigwig professional astronomical types are planning to "observe the event".

THIS IS GONNA BE THE BIGGEST PARTY EVER and it's gonna extend from Oregon to South Carolina. So even if DonDiego's pleading for the reader to see the event has not convinced the reader, the reader doesn't wanna miss the party, does he ?
SO FIND A PLACE ! Like, say one were interested in watching the eclipse with some college girls; the path of totality passes right over Clemson University in South Carolina. (DonDiego personally finds college girls a mite too frisky.)

Anyway, . . . here's a map:



And here's an interactive map, so's one can zoom-in and nose around to find a suitable location:

Eclipse 21 August 2017

So, . . . now the reader has no excuse.

Oh, . . . and by the way, if by some chance the reader misses the 2017 solar eclipse, there's another chance to see one in 2024.
Here's a map"



n.b. If the reader really, really does't want to miss these astronomical phenomena he could relocate to Carbondale, Illinois and just stay home to see both of them.

Boiler viewed a total eclipse of the Sun in Cincinnati on July 11th 1991. I remember that day, as shortly after my son was born I walked out of the hospital to see the eclipse

DonDiego has no doubt that IndyBoilerman viewed the total solar eclipse.

However, Cincinnatians were not within the path of totality, . . . and so he saw only a partial solar eclipse. As documented by NASA the path under which observers would've seen the sun's disc totally blacked out extended from the Pacific Ocean over Cabo San Lucas, Mexico City, Central America, and into central Brazil.

When one is within the roughly 60-mile wide path of totality, the Sun is totally obliterated, . . . the sky turns to night, the stars come out, the birds fly to roost in their nests.

One of the finest simulations of a total solar eclipse appears in the 1961/62 film Barabbas. Actually the scene is not totally a simulation, . . . some of the footage is the actual Total Solar Eclipse of 15 February 1961 in Southern Europe captured by Producer Dino De Larentiis' and incorporated into the movie under production at the time.
Oh, and by the way the soundtrack by Mario Nascimbene would be an excellent accompaniment to view with the actual eclipse next year.

DonDiego recommends IndyBoilerman make a quick trip down I-35 to Kansas City next August 21st to see the real thing !

I stand corrected. I'm not sure if that means that my memory is bad or my eyesight was bad. Of course it could be both.

I'm hoping to head up to be in the path. As it's August, I'm thinking camping works well.

Dang. The sun will be 88% darkened here in Arklahoma in Aug, 2017. Might just have to kick back in the pool with a cold one (or more) that day.

We booked months ago at a small motel on the Oregon coast with plans to drive inland should weather conditions warrant. Many hotels located in the path of the eclipse are already sold out or have raised rates to astronomical levels.