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2017 Solar Eclipse

Started by PColumbus73, August 18, 2017, 08:44:40 PM

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triplemultiplex

I watched it from the side of NE 61 a dozen or two miles north of Arthur, NE; 2.5 minutes of totality.  Very cool.  Clouds were sparse and out of the way during totality, so I nailed it.  I heeded some advice I heard to skip trying to take a decent picture and just experience the damn thing.  If you want a picture, there will be a 100 million available online in a few minutes.  I camped in the middle of Nebraska the night before and was disappointed to see the dense, low hanging fog blanketing the region.  But a quick check of some satellite images showed that my initial plan would probably still work; head west to clearer skies.  Sure enough, a few counties west, the mist dissipated and the ceiling lifted and eventually broke up.

It was a trip how weird the lighting got; kind of like how in old movies and TV shows, they would shoot supposed night scenes during the day and just dim the film down in post-production, but it's still super obvious to 21st Century eyes.  I enjoyed the funky, blurry shadows made during the partial eclipse.  The wide open space of the sand hills was a neat setting.  And the sense of community that developed along the roadside as well; "Hey if anyone needs some eclipse glasses, we got an extra pair!" "Yeah, same here!"  "If you get on top of that hill, you got enough signal to use your phone!"

Another curious thing; I drove into that area that morning on NE 2 (sup, dude?) and on the paralleling BNSF railroad tracks, train after train after train was stopped as I approached Hyannis in the zone of totality.  I remember thinking, "Oh cool, maybe the railroad is letting its trains stop under the eclipse so the crews can see it."  Would they do that?  Or was this just a way of keeping their trains out of the way of eclipse road traffic?

It took at least an hour to get the other side of Arthur toward I-80 afterward.  I figure at least 10,000 people had lined the highway between Arthur and Hyannis.  The rest of the drive to Denver was busy, but relatively smooth.  I heard on the radio folks took 8 hours to drive from Casper, WY to the Colorado state line.  Yeesh. 

I was impressed at how many people took the time to travel and see the eclipse.  It wasn't just the astronomy nerds and space hippies out there.  Millions of people took off work just to experience this event.  Safe to say I don't think there has ever been that many humans in that corner of the planet ever before.  I think that's pretty awesome.
"That's just like... your opinion, man."


hm insulators

I saw totality from Potosi, Missouri. It was my first total eclipse of the sun and it more than lived up to my expectations! The corona was especially beautiful--no camera can do it justice.
Remember: If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

I'd rather be a child of the road than a son of a ditch.


At what age do you tell a highway that it's been adopted?

ColossalBlocks

I am inactive for a while now my dudes. Good associating with y'all.

US Highways: 36, 49, 61, 412.

Interstates: 22, 24, 44, 55, 57, 59, 72, 74 (West).

mgk920

Quote from: ColossalBlocks on August 30, 2017, 03:07:44 PM
Quote from: hm insulators on August 30, 2017, 02:25:59 PMPotosi, Missouri

I feel sorry for you.

He could have been in Potosi, WI and only gotten the 85% partial.

:-P

Mike

SSOWorld

Scott O.

Not all who wander are lost...
Ah, the open skies, wind at my back, warm sun on my... wait, where the hell am I?!
As a matter of fact, I do own the road.
Raise your what?

Wisconsin - out-multiplexing your state since 1918.

ET21

The local weatherman, trust me I can be 99.9% right!
"Show where you're going, without forgetting where you're from"

Clinched:
IL: I-88, I-180, I-190, I-290, I-294, I-355, IL-390
IN: I-80, I-94
SD: I-190
WI: I-90, I-94
MI: I-94, I-196
MN: I-90

Jordanes

Clinched 2di:
4, 5, 12, 16, 22, 24, 26, 35, 39, 40, 44, 59, 64, 65, 66, 68, 70, 72, 73, 74 (both), 75, 76 (both), 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 84 (both), 85, 86 (both), 87, 88 (both), 89, 93, 95, 96, 97, 99

Almost clinched (less than 100 miles):
20, 30, 43, 45, 49, 55, 57, 71, 77, 80, 90, 91



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