Solar eclipse 2017

[JJBers]

Well, it says we'll be having a clear day in Southern New England...of a course we're only getting 70% of the eclipse at 2:45 pm.

Well you should look forward to the one in 2024 then. These are a big deal, because this is the first major eclipse I remember at all since the May 1994 eclipse where Toronto was under an annular eclipse.

We don't have a another total eclipse until 2074...I'll be 71 years old by this point.
Also...cool...I'll be in college by that point.

[HazMatt]

The next one is in 2024 and comes near your area.  https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2024-april-8

[TheHighwayMan3561]

The next one is in 2024 and comes near your area.  https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2024-april-8

That's an incredible list of cities in the path of that one. Austin, DFW, Little Rock, Indy, Columbus, Cleveland, Buffalo in the path of totality with San Antonio right on the edge.

[MisterSG1]

The next one is in 2024 and comes near your area.  https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2024-april-8

That's an incredible list of cities in the path of that one. Austin, DFW, Little Rock, Indy, Columbus, Cleveland, Buffalo in the path of totality with San Antonio right on the edge.

And Toronto just misses totality by a hair, but Hamilton is in totality, that's just the way things go. Especially with this coming out of winter season, there could be potential for some epic photos during this eclipse.

[JJBers]

The next one is in 2024 and comes near your area.  https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2024-april-8

Still misses me, but is 90% instead of 70%...

[empirestate]

Keep in mind, the 2024 eclipse takes place in early April, when weather conditions will be much less reliable for most of its area.

[Beltway]

My digital camera has a LCD viewfinder, not an optical one. I'd think that would be safe to view it through. The little video camera I'm planning to use has one as well. It's also selling on eBay for about $15-20 now, and in fact I bought one a few weeks ago after the old model I had quit working. If the video camera bites the dust, it should be easy to replace.

You could try it on the sun tomorrow as a test, but without a very dense filter I suspect that the sun will be super-over-exposed, like glare filling the whole frame.

[SignGeek101]

Only 76% here in Winnipeg, good enough for me. I've never seen even a partial eclipse. I don't have though special glasses though 

[Beltway]

One of my sites currently has a forecast of "Sunny", and the other "PM Thunderstorms".
If I get a marginal forecast the day before, I will have to decide whether a 400+ mile trip is worth the risk of the eclipse being clouded out; that would be a huge disappointment, as astronomy is one of the major interests that I have had since about 8 years old.
Maybe I should look at it for the road trip value, which would be considerable by itself, as justification to make the trip if the forecast is marginal. 
Actually all you need is about 10 minutes on either side of totality, of clear sky around the sun, to achieve about 90% of the overall spectacle.

So out of curiosity, did you see the 2012 Venus Transit? Well of course you'd need to have access to a telescope, but did you do anything for that event?

Yes, I saw the Venus transits of 2004 and 2012.  I was with a group of amateur astronomers at the Virginia Science Museum in Richmond.  A few had fancy setups whereby a telescope caught the solar image and it was fed into a video screen, a very nice effect!

I had my own 4.5 inch reflector telescope with a sun projection screen, and that worked well.  I set it up yesterday and noticed that several sunspots are visible.

The transit in 2004 ended about 2 hours after sunrise, and the sun was in and out of clouds.  Actually the disk of Venus is resolvable with the naked eye at that distance, there were times when the sun was a dim disk as seen thru a cloud layer, and you could see the black dot on the sun with the naked eye.

[Alps]

I have no trouble taking photos directly into the sun during sunrise and sunset - and I mean an hour or more away from the actual rise/set time. Never had a camera quit on me.

[JJBers]

So I guess that solves my delmia with my camera potentially breaking if I try to take a photo of the eclipse.
I'm going camping from Aug. 19-21, so I might be at home, or a campground when it happens.

[Beltway]

I have no trouble taking photos directly into the sun during sunrise and sunset - and I mean an hour or more away from the actual rise/set time. Never had a camera quit on me.

I will try mine out tomorrow.

This is the only photo I can think of that I have that has the sun in it --
http://www.roadstothefuture.com/Bay_Bridge_Win5.jpg
Taken with a Minolta film-based SLR

[thenetwork]

The next one is in 2024 and comes near your area.  https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2024-april-8

Still misses me, but is 90% instead of 70%...

2045 will be the ultimate eclipse for me...Provided I'm still around.   Pretty much the same track as Monday's, except a few hundred miles further south.

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2045-august-12#

[jpi]

As long as I am still in the mid south, looks like I can take advantage of the 2024 eclipse, just a mere 4 hour drive west and can experience the full effect of this one too.

[Beltway]

I have no trouble taking photos directly into the sun during sunrise and sunset - and I mean an hour or more away from the actual rise/set time. Never had a camera quit on me.

I will try mine out tomorrow.
This is the only photo I can think of that I have that has the sun in it --
http://www.roadstothefuture.com/Bay_Bridge_Win5.jpg
Taken with a Minolta film-based SLR

Here is what I get from my 2005 vintage digital Nikon point-and-shoot.
It is aged but takes fine photos as you can see here --
http://www.roadstothefuture.com/US29-LMH-Bypass-102005-12.jpg

Here are my sun shots from today, one wide angle and one about 2.5x telephoto --
http://www.pennways.com/DEVL/Sun-wide.JPG
http://www.pennways.com/DEVL/Sun-telephoto.JPG

Very overexposed and I would need a very dense filter.

[oscar]

I'm planning on eastern Oregon for this.  Yes, it'll be crowded, and we'll have to camp and bring in all our drinking water, and driving out afterwards with about 10,000 other people on dirt Forest Service roads will be tedious, but it'll be worth it.

The Oregon media are projecting a huge mess, with severe traffic tie-ups already occurring from people heading to preferred viewing spots (like a 15-mile backup on the main highway to Prineville, plus additional delays on back roads to viewing sites), and disaster declarations from overwhelmed small towns.

I listened to these reports in Medford. They reinforced my plan to keep driving south, and hang out in northern California until the eclipse is over and people are on their way home.

One pointer in the Oregon media, that might apply to other states (though eastern Oregon's generally sparse population might be a special case) -- try to arrive at your viewing site with as full a tank of gas as possible, expect fuel shortages that may impede your arrival and/or departure.

[Darkchylde]

The fiancee and I will be watching it here in KC. Wish we could make it up to St. Joseph, but the car's not doing great right now and gas money is an issue on top of that. Should still get a good view here.

[Beltway]

I'm planning on eastern Oregon for this.  Yes, it'll be crowded, and we'll have to camp and bring in all our drinking water, and driving out afterwards with about 10,000 other people on dirt Forest Service roads will be tedious, but it'll be worth it.

The Oregon media are projecting a huge mess, with severe traffic tie-ups already occurring from people heading to preferred viewing spots (like a 15-mile backup on the main highway to Prineville, plus additional delays on back roads to viewing sites), and disaster declarations from overwhelmed small towns.

Hmmm, I have to wonder if this is Fake News, so many people driving to viewing sites at least 54 hours before the eclipse, that there are major backups on major highways?

[froggie]

The part about people already driving to viewing sites is not fake news.  I know of several who are already doing so (including 2 groups of my students).

[Beltway]

The part about people already driving to viewing sites is not fake news.  I know of several who are already doing so (including 2 groups of my students).

But how many?  My group which includes amateur astronomers will arrive in the vicinity on Sunday afternoon and drive an hour to the site first thing Monday.

Based on my eclipse experience in Virginia Beach in 1970 we should be fine.

[froggie]

Not there or heading there so I couldn't say.  But this video from KOMO (ABC affiliate in Seattle) suggests that the Oregon backups are real and not fake news.

[Beltway]

Not there or heading there so I couldn't say.  But this video from KOMO (ABC affiliate in Seattle) suggests that the Oregon backups are real and not fake news.

I've already seen photos of Oregon backups in the media, but how do we know whether they have anything to do with the eclipse which even now is 48 hours into the future?

[froggie]

Perhaps because it's not normal traffic for this time of year?

[Beltway]

Perhaps because it's not normal traffic for this time of year?

Why Oregon?  Other states don't seem to be reporting traffic problems yet.  Oregon is a big state with potentially thousands of good viewing sites all over the state.

[oscar]

Believe me, one you get away from the US 97 and Columbia River corridors, there's a whole lot of nothing in  eastern Oregon. I'm sure there's some weekend getaway traffic into eastern Oregon from people who like the forests and parks out there, but not so long before the weekend.

Eastern Oregon might be a special case, with a huge influx of eclipse watchers for its being the first place to view the eclipse in the U.S. with reliable cloud-free weather, combined with small permanent populations and limited road networks. So my comments were mainly for kkt. For other parts of the country, YMMV.