Thats it? VERY DISAPPOINTED! I have encountered more darkness during severe thunderstorms.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't get as dark as at night. The stars may come out in the wilderness, not in metro areas of any significance.

[Anonymous]

For those who didn't think it was very special, here are some photos from friends who traveled to totality zones. Both of these friends are avid amateur photographers.

This friend is an astrophysicist and he traveled to eastern OR to view the eclipse:




This friend is a retired project lead from Space Telescope up in Baltimore. He traveled to the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming to view:




Amazing. I'm so jealous of my friends going to see this. We are already starting to plan to go and see the eclipse in 2024 (we're just investigating where we'd like to go for the viewing).

[Anonymous]

I was at totality. Photos do not do it justice. I am still processing the experience. From the changing lighting...to the insect sounds...to the mid-day cool down...and then...the sun is just about completely occluded.



And then the last bit of the sun is gone...



I looked around, and saw the Great Smoky Mountains still lit up...but noticed 360 degrees of sunrise/sunset colors. It is truly a magical experience.

I am mostly at a loss to describe the emotional intensity of the 2min 38 s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These NOVA nothing special happened posters make me glad I live in DC where everyone I know was thrilled to have the chance to see it.

I'm a pp who took exception to the "nothing special" posters too. I'm in NOVA, watched the eclipse with a whole neighborhood full of awed viewers and have seen loads of socia media postings by NOVA friends and acquaintances who took time off of work to appreciate the eclipse with friends and families. Everyone I know was thrilled to have the chance to see it, and I can guarantee you that there are people in DC who didn't give a damn, so let's not turn this into some ridiculous turf dispute.

Let's also not turn it into a dispute about people being jaded vs not. The "nothing special" posters (myself included) were people who were unfortunate enough to be in a cloudy area at the time. Those who were thrilled to see it didn't have the misfortune of having cloud coverage at the peak. Believe me all of you who thought it was pretty neat would not have had the same reaction if you had seen it from my neighborhood.

But also, anyone not in the path of totality is going to experience far less drama than those in the 100% path. Duh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
That's why people made an effort to get to the path of totality. It gets pitch black and the stars come out, and animals get a little concerned.

I would have traveled if I could. The kids and I just went out to observe with our glasses and I explained that the sun is so powerful, even covered at more than 80%, it's practically broad daylight.

It does not get pitch dark in totality and you cannot see any stars. BUT it looks like dawn and sunset 360' around- it is very cool. Plus seeing the moon blocking the sun and being able to see the sun's corona is also cool. We drove to Tennessee on SUnday and back yesterday. It was definitely worth it.

We were in Oregon and definitely saw some stars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly. I think the cheering is weird. Yes, it's cool, it's nature, it's a natural scientific thing. But cheering? Normal for a birthday, sports event etc...not really appropriate for an eclipse. Like I understand a sigh of amazement, even screaming how cool it was. But something about cheering for this seems off.

I agree. I'm the poster who said we drove way out in the country, to an isolated spot within the path of totality. It was such an awe- inspiring event for our family, and not one I would've wanted to share with a cheering crowd. The absolute silence where we were made it even more dramatic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at totality. Photos do not do it justice. I am still processing the experience. From the changing lighting...to the insect sounds...to the mid-day cool down...and then...the sun is just about completely occluded.



And then the last bit of the sun is gone...



I looked around, and saw the Great Smoky Mountains still lit up...but noticed 360 degrees of sunrise/sunset colors. It is truly a magical experience.

I am mostly at a loss to describe the emotional intensity of the 2min 38 s.

+1000
It so exceeded our expectations, we found ourselves speechless afterwards. It's too bad everyone couldn't have had this experience.

[MikeL]

Anonymous wrote:I watched it near the WH with glasses. It was hot as hell and I felt no relief in the temperature or brightness. I was a little disappointed but I still want to travel to see totality in 2024!

The difference between a partial eclipse and a total eclipse is like being near death and being dead.

[Anonymous]

MikeL wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I watched it near the WH with glasses. It was hot as hell and I felt no relief in the temperature or brightness. I was a little disappointed but I still want to travel to see totality in 2024!

The difference between a partial eclipse and a total eclipse is like being near death and being dead.

Yes. Reminds me of the old saying that "almost" only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

[Anonymous]

I am banking on 2024 -- I live in a zone that will experience the eclipse in it's totally. F<*€, I will be just over 50!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
That's why people made an effort to get to the path of totality. It gets pitch black and the stars come out, and animals get a little concerned.

I would have traveled if I could. The kids and I just went out to observe with our glasses and I explained that the sun is so powerful, even covered at more than 80%, it's practically broad daylight.

It does not get pitch dark in totality and you cannot see any stars. BUT it looks like dawn and sunset 360' around- it is very cool. Plus seeing the moon blocking the sun and being able to see the sun's corona is also cool. We drove to Tennessee on SUnday and back yesterday. It was definitely worth it.

We Did too!

We noticed several fcps cat stikers on the way back so there were many of us. Didn't you love how polite everyone was there in TN and how gracious the drivers were? I wasn't sureif it was post eclipse glow or the effects of southern hospitality, but I have never seen that many NOVA, MD, DC and NY drivers be so polite and accomodating in heavy traffic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
That's why people made an effort to get to the path of totality. It gets pitch black and the stars come out, and animals get a little concerned.

I would have traveled if I could. The kids and I just went out to observe with our glasses and I explained that the sun is so powerful, even covered at more than 80%, it's practically broad daylight.

It does not get pitch dark in totality and you cannot see any stars. BUT it looks like dawn and sunset 360' around- it is very cool. Plus seeing the moon blocking the sun and being able to see the sun's corona is also cool. We drove to Tennessee on SUnday and back yesterday. It was definitely worth it.

We were in Oregon and definitely saw some stars.

Tennessee near the smoky mountains and we definitely saw stars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who didn't think it was very special, here are some photos from friends who traveled to totality zones. Both of these friends are avid amateur photographers.

This friend is an astrophysicist and he traveled to eastern OR to view the eclipse:




This friend is a retired project lead from Space Telescope up in Baltimore. He traveled to the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming to view:




Amazing. I'm so jealous of my friends going to see this. We are already starting to plan to go and see the eclipse in 2024 (we're just investigating where we'd like to go for the viewing).

Were these taken with a filter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who didn't think it was very special, here are some photos from friends who traveled to totality zones. Both of these friends are avid amateur photographers.

This friend is an astrophysicist and he traveled to eastern OR to view the eclipse:

This friend is a retired project lead from Space Telescope up in Baltimore. He traveled to the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming to view:

Amazing. I'm so jealous of my friends going to see this. We are already starting to plan to go and see the eclipse in 2024 (we're just investigating where we'd like to go for the viewing).

Were these taken with a filter?

Extracting the photos to save space. Yes, both of these friends had sun filters for their cameras. No, I don't know which ones. I just know that they had them. I do know that the first friend (astrophysicist) has been to at least 2 other eclipses. He's a little bit of an eclipse-chaser and I recall him talking about other eclipses in the past.

The second one, I don't know him too well. I'm much better friends with his wife (who posted these on her FB page).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those who didn't think it was very special, here are some photos from friends who traveled to totality zones. Both of these friends are avid amateur photographers.

This friend is an astrophysicist and he traveled to eastern OR to view the eclipse:




This friend is a retired project lead from Space Telescope up in Baltimore. He traveled to the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming to view:




Amazing. I'm so jealous of my friends going to see this. We are already starting to plan to go and see the eclipse in 2024 (we're just investigating where we'd like to go for the viewing).

Were these taken with a filter?

I suspect they were. I would really like to see pictures of the eclipse in totality without the filters.