My buddy went to see the eclipse with a friend in VT. He said it took him 12 hours to drive 3 hours worth of driving. Where so I sign up for that kind of excitement?
What are you doing (if anything) for the eclipse?
- Thread starter Nitt1300
- Start date
So I struggle with the concept of when eclipses do (and do not) occur. I think that it stems from my apparently missing a day in middle school when I should have learned about how the moon orbits the earth. Apparently it is not coplanar with the earth's orbit of the sun. Nevertheless, I still can't seem to get my head around how there can be a total eclipse near the north pole in the middle of summer:
I am also in awe of the math that must be involved in predicting the exact time and location(s) of future eclipses. Sure, some smart programmer can figure out how to do it if they can boil down the orbital parameters into equations but I couldn't do that; could you do that? Now imagine how Thales did it 2600 years ago and even Halley could do this in 1715 (did he even have a slide rule [younger board members, ask your parents]):
Anyway, my mind is blown until the next one happens near me in 2099< I think.
I too am amazed at how accurately they were able to forecast these events even before they had computers. That had to take a lot of careful observation and data collection over time, plus some hefty smarts.
As for an eclipse near the North Pole during the summer, I think it arises from a combination of two factors: the tilt of the Earth on its axis, and the moon’s orbit of Earth not being coplanar with our orbit of the sun as you mentioned. I’d imagine that first, the “summer” in question would have to be the northern hemisphere’s summer (ours as opposed to say Australia’s) because that is when the arctic circle area would be angled slightly toward the sun instead of away from it. And second, I’m guessing that may have to align with a time when the moon is in a part of its orbit that is slightly higher than the plane of Earth’s orbit of the sun — though probably NOT at the peak of its height in that orbit.
If I’m picturing things right, that would be when the moon’s shadow would happen to hit fairly high on our globe. I could be off in some of this, but that’s the best my brain can envision it without looking anything up about it
Thank you for doing that.
Despite having seen the last one and being well aware of the risks and the viewing protocol, my dumb a$$ screwed up and almost cooked my retinas on Monday.
Well before the eclipse even began (!!!), I was staking out our observation spot in a park in Houlton… I was trying to estimate the sun’s angle in the sky during totality based on its position at that moment, and I briefly looked up directly at its full unobstructed glare
Driving to our hotel that night, I felt like my vision was a bit iffy and “off” so I was worried. But things seem fine now, luckily.
Be smart and be safe, kids!
I was finishing a backpacking trip on the Foothills Trail in South Carolina during the eclipse. It was only 85% down there - I felt like I was wearing sunglasses. It was kind of neat that it coincided with the conclusion of my hike. The Foothills Trail, for anyone interested in long distance hiking, is exceptional. It will certainly go down as one of my all time favorites.
I suspect a thread on favorite hiking trails or city walks would be quite wonderful.
