Davis Odd Fellows

4 weeks ago

On August 21, 2017, observers in the U.S. will have an opportunity to see one of the great celestial events on Earth. A total eclipse of the sun. The path of totality will start on the Oregon coast and rapidly pass across the U.S where it will move out into the Atlantic after viewers experience totality in Charleston SC. You must be within the narrow band of totality in order to experience the night during day phenomenon. This will be Charlene and my 9th solar eclipse - our first was in Baja Mexico in July 1991. We’ve been hooked ever since and have traveled the world to watch eclipses. For those of you that do not make it into the path of totality, you will experience a partial eclipse as the entire U.S will be able to see some level of the eclipse. I think Davis CA will be ~85% partial. BUT the difference between seeing a partial eclipse and totality is literally…..night and day. We will be watching totality from Clemson University in South Carolina but great viewing can be found in eastern Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming. Plan on camping……hotels in the path of totality are charging ridiculous rates if you can get a reservation now.

There are a number of good web sites discussing the upcoming eclipse. I would like to recommend the Clemson site:

www.clemson.edu/science/departments/physics-astro/news-events/eclipse.html

and the short sound bites by Rick Brown (a friend of ours and fellow eclipse chaser that we travel with) on one of their other sites. Rick’s short videos describes what its like to see totality:

newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelations/nightfall-in-the-middle-of-the-day/

To find cities in the path of totality, take a look at:

eclipse2017.nasa.gov/eclipse-maps

Finally, some important facts about watching an eclipse. You MUST wear eye protection (eclipse glasses) during the partial phase prior to totality. This is very important as you do not want to damage your retina by looking directly at the sun. Once totality starts, you can switch to using binoculars to look at the eclipse. (I recommend a pair of binoculars with internal stabilization such as the Canon IS line. I can watch a bird in flight without the image shaking with the image stabilizer capability.) During totality, the exposed solar corona will not damage your eyes. Look for solar flares off the edge of the moon, magnetic field of the sun and experience the 360 degree sunset effect (everywhere you look on the horizon will have an orange glow). I suggest you do not spend time trying to take pictures. The eclipse is short and there will be a lot of pictures on the web to show people if you want. Experience the eclipse. Remember to remove your binoculars from your eyes before the second diamond ring effect when the eclipse ends and the first bit of sunlight pokes out from the surface of the moon.

If you want to act like an experienced umbraphile, bring along a pirate patch for your dominant eye. Wear it starting ~30 mins before totality. This will allow your dominant eye pupil to dilate so that once totality begins and you remove the eye patch, you will see 10x more detail in the solar corona. Otherwise you will be trying to watch the eclipse with handicapped eyes. Think about the difference between walking around your house in the dark after you have been asleep for a while vs turning off the lights in your room and trying to see things. Once your pupils dilate you can see in the dark. Same thing during totality.

Have a great time this summer, and make sure you buy some eclipse glasses on line now. You will not be able to get glasses once we get close to the eclipse date.

All the best and happy eclipsing. ... See MoreSee Less