We are in N.E Ohio, right in the path of the total eclipse. I would like to stay home and experience it from the yard. We are in a suburb with street lights all around. I’m thinking the street lights will come on and spoil the whole thing.
Two upcoming solar eclipses in North America
- Thread starter REWahoo
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Sunset
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
You could drive to a large local park, or maybe it's still interesting in the backyard as it's daytime, then turns to night and back to day.
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SecondAttempt
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OMG, please don't do that again! You were lucky!
SecondAttempt
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I went to see a total solar eclipse in Hungary in 1999. It is truly a lifetime experience. Pay attention to what the animals do. We ended up chasing clouds and driving around to be mobile. As totality approached we ended up parked in front of a farm house and as "dusk" fell more quickly than normal, the chickens all hastily disappeared to roost. Other bird calls stopped, and the crickets started up. Just minutes later the roosters were crowing for dawn, probably confused as heck!
I don't think it is an exaggeration to think that solar eclipses may be responsible for the development of human curiosity and therefore intelligence. Millenia ago the movement of the sun and moon were important for our lives and survival. If you planted at the wrong time you'd starve to death when crops failed. But every now and then the moon would eat the sun. It must have been both terrifying and something to understand on the order of the space program!
I don't think it is an exaggeration to think that solar eclipses may be responsible for the development of human curiosity and therefore intelligence. Millenia ago the movement of the sun and moon were important for our lives and survival. If you planted at the wrong time you'd starve to death when crops failed. But every now and then the moon would eat the sun. It must have been both terrifying and something to understand on the order of the space program!
HawkOwl
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Price gouging is definitely a thing, but I was able to get a couple of rooms in San Antonio for April 7-9 at a normal price. That is about 70 miles from the line of maximum coverage.
Now the question is, what will airline costs be when they go on sale?
Now the question is, what will airline costs be when they go on sale?
JoeWras
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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They may, but it won't be the end of the world. The experience will trump a light coming on. I was in a parking lot where a few came on near the end of totality. Not a major problem.
This is different than trying to look at a dark sky and pick out the Milky Way. The eclipse sky looks similar to twilight. There's just too much scattered light hitting the atmosphere all around the totality shadow to make it a dark, dark sky.
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It won’t impact the experience at all. The only thing you need to worry about is clouds. I’ll be looking for two different spots that I can reach once I know the weather. I’m in MI so only about an hour away from totality so I’ll just head out early in the morning to whichever location has the best chance of clear skies. If I lived in totality like you, I’d just take my chances. However, I say that having seen at least one in my life.
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You may want to look at a site that will tell you the length of time in your location. If you’re on the edge of totality, the experience is going to be shorter than if you’re right on the maximum line.
Here’s a great site. Click on a point on the map and it will tell you what time and how long the eclipse will be. (Let me know when me and DW should be there and what kind of beverages you’d like us to bring
).http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2024_GoogleMapFull.html
Someone on these boards mentioned getting a room for points but couldn't find that post (whoever you are, thanks for mentioning it so I'd go back and try -I had given up on being in the path. I'm so happy to have got a room with points today instead of the $500-800 range in the San Antonio area. I went back to book a few nights before the stay I booked with points but there was no availability at that hotel -even on the day I had just booked so I got in under the wire! I plan to be in the area the weekend before if any ER folks want to try to meet up -I haven't booked those earlier days yet but will stay somewhere on the north side of the metro.
You may want to look at a site that will tell you the length of time in your location. If you’re on the edge of totality, the experience is going to be shorter than if you’re right on the maximum line.
Here’s a great site. Click on a point on the map and it will tell you what time and how long the eclipse will be. (Let me know when me and DW should be there and what kind of beverages you’d like us to bring
http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2024_GoogleMapFull.html
We will have 2 min 59.3 sec of totality. Thanks for the link.
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Avalon
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This is a video my son did of the last eclipse. I think he plans to shoot the next one from my backyard.
There's something to be said for staying flexible & not making firm plans in advance. For the 2017 eclipse, the original plan was for my brother & niece to come down to my place since the path of totality was about an hour south of me. But as the day got close the weather forecast started looking really cloudy for my area, so 2-3 days before the eclipse we got hotel rooms in Kentucky a couple hours outside the path. We drove down to somewhere between Knoxville & Chattanooga, set up in a city park in some small town near the center of the path, and had a great time.
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In 2017 we rode up to Blue Ridge Ga to watch it. We got to a restraunt that we ate at with our motorcycle group some times. We ate then hung around and then went out to their parking lot and had a great time fellowshipping with some strangers then ohhing and ahhhhing the eclipse. Afterwards we hit a couple of backroads and were back home in 2 hours. We saw the back ups on the main roads around that area on the Atlanta news that evening. It was a great day but I was glad we knew the back roads from our many motorcycle rides in that area previously.
foxcreek9
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We have hotel reservations in Poplar Bluff, Mo and Columbus, IN, both cancel-able within 24 hours. Will make final decision that Saturday before. The last one caught the hotels in southern Illinois asleep, we stayed at a HI for $89 (reserved a year in advanced) near STL. This time, most of the hotels were already $600-$1000 a night, but we were able to use points to avoid the gouge. Staying an extra night to avoid the mass evacuation that we experienced last time.
SecondAttempt
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We all did a lot of crazy things when we were younger like playing with mercury. I'm glad you didn't go blind. But these days it is easy to find cheap and easy ways to view safely.
I've seen a total solar eclipse and it is an amazing experience. Pay attention to the animals, birds, insects...and be mobile. One errant cloud can ruin the whole experience so it is good to be able to move 10 miles down the road at the last minute.
SecondAttempt
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The length of totality increases slowly and then decreases slowly. There is no major difference more than a few seconds over scores of miles. The biggest difference is the accuracy of the sources.
A big part of the experience is hearing and seeing how nature reacts. Watching from a big city like Dallas you will miss that. The birds start roosting, the crickets and other night time insects start sounding. It can be eerie but fascinating.
EastWest Gal
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In 2017 we went to rural Oregon to see the eclipse, as did my sister. We "camped" with my cousin on a mowed hay field. They set up portapotties, mobile showers, food trucks, and a hot air balloon (they gave "rides" but kept the balloon tethered). We camped next to an astronomy professor that had all kinds of special telescopes for safe viewing. We were dead center.
A solar eclipse is not something you want to miss. Clear skies are not guaranteed, but the noticeable temperature drop and the sudden darkening is very cool.
We've already booked a hotel in Niagara Falls for the next one. It may not be the best viewing spot, but we can drive to it and see the falls in the meantime. And totality will last about 4 minutes this time.
A solar eclipse is not something you want to miss. Clear skies are not guaranteed, but the noticeable temperature drop and the sudden darkening is very cool.
We've already booked a hotel in Niagara Falls for the next one. It may not be the best viewing spot, but we can drive to it and see the falls in the meantime. And totality will last about 4 minutes this time.
