Solar Eclipses for the US in 2023 and 2024

I forgot about this until today, we were talking about the eclipse and our upcoming trip next week.

I was at work, and one of the guys I work with was talking to some lady about the eclipse. She said that she was going to the best spot to watch it. I asked her where, thinking she was going somewhere in Texas.

Nope.

She said she was going with her some of her friends to Stone Mountain.

I said "What?"

She explained that by going to Stone Mountain she would be higher up and closer to the Sun, and that would give her a better view. The guy I work with agreed with her saying that was a good idea.

I didn't even bother to try and explain why she was so wrong. I just said I would let her believe that.

Then I laughed a bit, she got kind of pissed off over that.

I didn't bother to explain I thought of scene from Night Court where Bob Wheeler said "Burned out his retinas staring into an eclipse".

Weather forecasts are saying "mostly cloudy" for much of The Totality Zone™

https://baas.aas.org/pub/2024i3n023

So now you'll have to wait until around 8pm or so for it to get dark?

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/04/americas/purkinje-effect-total-solar-eclipse-scn/index.html

Well, arrived at Jonesboro Arkansas for the eclipse. Checked into the Airbnb around 4:30, and now we're getting dinner.

Asked the waitress if she knows of there are any events or anything local for the eclipse. She only knows that the is an eclipse, but not what time it even what the solar viewers she was given are for. Filled her in, what time totality is and what to do. She's excited now.

Most likely still driving about 30 minutes further to get the extra 90 or so seconds.

I've decided I'm not going to Point Pelee. Weather probably won't be the greatest, crossing the border is a hassle, my phone doesn't work over there as-is and buying SIM cards is a hassle, and my sciatica is acting up so walking a bunch immediately after driving for two hours would be difficult.

So, Ohio it is. Right now it looks like heading south from Toledo is a better option weather-wise than east, but I'll keep an eye on things. I'll probably be going to Findlay (south) or Fremont (east), or just Toledo if I get out the door late.

The Sun's dominion over daytime shall come to a (temporary) end! All hail the Moon! All hail the Harsh Mistress!

Rolled into Indianapolis this evening. I’m excited! ☺️

To be fair, it's Arkansas. I mean, who knows what kind of shenanigans Dayton might pull during an eclipse?

Also, the sun is definitely coming back. Because, I'd be cool with it if the eclipse was permanent, and I never get what I want, so...

https://x.com/business/status/1777262327433191506?s=46&t=iYW3foyqIA6Tn8VWwn3nwQ

There are nearly as many wind generators across northern Indiana as there are in western Iowa. But, I didn’t realize wind was generating that much electric for the US. Have the anti environmentalists been lying to us?

Well, I'm up earlier than I thought I'd be today, so I have time to drive to one of the non-Ohio states, I guess.

I already saw the eclipse yesterday at about 7:53pm ET, when the sun magically went away!

Way ahead of the rest of you!!!1!

Hey, does anyone know what @We Are Borg thinks about the eclipse? It seems like something he'd have strong opinions about that he'd want to share, yet he's been strangely silent on the subject and is nowhere to be seen in this thread.

He's probably just too busy planning his trip and viewing experience to bother posting in this thread. I bet he's more excited for it than any of us and will have so, so much more fun than the rest of us.

The eclipse as seen from North Chicago, IL.

First, I was going to ‘rate’ the post with a :funny: then, I thought, no, it’s :sad:

So, what super powers did everyone get? I think I got a form of clairvoyance: I can tell when I'm going to need to poop 20 minutes beforehand. Before, I had little to no warning because of my stupid spine issues and probably IBS.

Speaking of which, I need to find a toilet in the next fifteen minutes.

Absolutely breathtaking.

I had to look during totality because my glasses weren't working properly. I mean, they did their job a little TOO well.
So I had to wait until totality, at which point I was able to look straight up unaided. Just beautiful, and for a witch especially meaningful.

Responding seriously:

My only disappointment was from a professional standpoint. It would've been cool to record the eclipse, but I'm not sad about it.

On a personal level, I don't really care about this kind of stuff.

Same. But, upon receiving a dozen or so group message chats, I remembered about the eclipse, then the pics started.

Wejl now I'm blind anfgh can't type priuperly.

Fuaclk.

I ended up in Whitehouse, Ohio. Took back roads and the traffic wasn't bad.

I thought you were further north and more middle of Michigan. How far are you from Monroe? I used to have to go to Monroe on occasion. Always hated seeing that statue of Custer at the corner.

Most of my building (including me) piled out to watch the eclipse. We got what, about 89% here in DC? Something like that. Anyway, I did my binoculars trick, where you use them to project an image onto a handy flat surface. In this case a shiny metal picnic table. Worked pretty well. But then a friend of mine turned up with an extra pair of eclipse glasses and I looked at it that way, too. Clouds kept interfering but we still got an amazing view of a partial eclipse. woot!