I don't get the Eclipse madness!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty sure there was one last year. It wasn't exciting then. People are nuts.

The one last year was an annular eclipse. That is when the moon is at it's furthest distance from the Earth. In that one, you get a much larger halo effect of the sun and it isn't as impressive. It looks kind of like this:




What will happen on Monday is a total solar eclipse. The moon is closer to the earth and will block out much more of the sun. In the total eclipse, it gets darker, more like full dusk rather than early sunset. The animals and insects get confused and you'll hear anywhere from silence to odd patterns normally not heard. In the middle of the afternoon, it will feel like the period just after sunset when it's getting near dark. The distance means that you will have more light diffusion and get more "special effects" rather than just a donut of light. You will get more light phenomena like these:

All true, but only in the path of totality - which the DMV is not in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 44. I feel like these things have happened pretty frequently in my lifespan, yet the buildup around them is crazy! I have no interest in participating in any of this - pulling my kids out of school to go to the Smithsonian, for example? (And I'm totally a parent that would pull them for stuff, I just don't get this!) I guess I sort of have some FOMO, but really...why is this a big deal?

You will literally be elderly when the next one happens. But go ahead and pretend like it’s nothing.

[Anonymous]

I so wish we were in the path of totality. I saw the total eclipse in 2017 and it was unlike anything I've ever experienced. The partial will be interesting, but nothing like totality.

[Anonymous]

I just smile and nod. I think things like this are terribly boring

I don’t like the idea of the kids looking at it, even with the special glasses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 44. I feel like these things have happened pretty frequently in my lifespan, yet the buildup around them is crazy! I have no interest in participating in any of this - pulling my kids out of school to go to the Smithsonian, for example? (And I'm totally a parent that would pull them for stuff, I just don't get this!) I guess I sort of have some FOMO, but really...why is this a big deal?

I think it’s cool to see. But didn’t we just have one in 2019 or something? That was also cool for a few minutes. Got the obligatory btdt pics

+2 PP (although I'm 46yrs old)

Haileys Comet, eclipses, catching a glimpse of the space shuttle, the Caps winning the Stanley Cup, the Nats winning the World Series, and all those other "1x in a lifetime" - type things - just can't excited enough about it to jump on the bandwagon.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I don't either. During the last one I did stop what I was doing (shopping) for a few minutes and kind of check it out while trying not to burn my eyeballs and then continued on my way.

I would not go out of my way or spend any money to experience the sun disappearing for a short time. It actually disappears where I live every single night for hours.

you sound like a lot of fun

Thanks, yes, I am a lot of fun.

Thankfully the people in my life don't judge me based on my feelings about eclipses. We have some other stuff going on.

And yet, here you are posting about your feelings about eclipses.
Have you ever seen one in totality? Or do you just want to tell us your feelings about looking up at the sun without solar glasses on while you were shopping?
If you were at all curious about things you don't understand, you might look discover that the sun doesn't "disappear", it is masked by the moon. It's kinda different from the sun setting.
Is this really that hard to understand?

Not the PP, but people like you are exhausting. Why is it so hard for you to accept that others don’t share your same feelings about everything? Or, even if they do find it cool, not enough to drop everything for a couple days to invest the time and energy to go see it.

I don't GAS what other people do but this was so stupid that I had to respond:
"I would not go out of my way or spend any money to experience the sun disappearing for a short time. It actually disappears where I live every single night for hours."
You have to admit that statement is moronic, right?

It's moronic to you because you are a moron with no sense of humor.

Oh, so it was a joke now?

Yes....the sun going down every single night was a little joke....do you need anything else explained to you?

[Anonymous]

My DC is a senior in high school. This is the last "big" event we'll be able to do as a family of 4 living under the same roof. We are currently at Niagara Falls and I'm getting excited! Unfortunately, the skies today are absolutely perfect - not a cloud in the sky. It's going to be cloudy tomorrow for totality so I hope we get to witness something.

But even with the clouds, I'm glad we're here experiencing it together. I'll come back and let everyone know if it's worth it and whether they need to start planning for 2044 or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same - wasn't there just one a few years ago? We took a break from work to see it but I wasn't that impressed. Don't understand spending the crazy amount on hotels and travel times to see it.

Totally agree. It was an excuse for the SAHMs to day drink, that’s all I remember.

Don’t care about this one either. I’m an outlier though as I don’t care about space. Why ruin space when we can’t even fix Detroit? The eclipse holds no allure for me. I mean it’s neat- I like alignment and astronomy- but the flying all over to admire the natural world kills the natural world.

Not all SAHM are ignorant alcoholic, many have STEM degrees and interested in science and space.

[Anonymous]

Scoffers are probably unaware that the partial eclipse experience is missing most of what’s described here:https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/04/05/total-solar-eclipse-phases-timeline/" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/04/05/total-solar-eclipse-phases-timeline/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This one is a little different than the ones past because the zone of totality is wider and it will last longer. More Americans will be able to participate than ever.

Oh boy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC is a senior in high school. This is the last "big" event we'll be able to do as a family of 4 living under the same roof. We are currently at Niagara Falls and I'm getting excited! Unfortunately, the skies today are absolutely perfect - not a cloud in the sky. It's going to be cloudy tomorrow for totality so I hope we get to witness something.

But even with the clouds, I'm glad we're here experiencing it together. I'll come back and let everyone know if it's worth it and whether they need to start planning for 2044 or not.

Totality is definitely worth it. We experienced it in 2017 and I still get chills thinking about it. I hope the skies are clear for you.

[Anonymous]

Eclipses are simply a sign of an impending war, judgement on mankine and a sign & wonder in the heavens of the Creator's magnificence.

The ancient Mayans & Aztecs understood this!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eclipses are simply a sign of an impending war, judgement on mankine and a sign & wonder in the heavens of the Creator's magnificence.

The ancient Mayans & Aztecs understood this!

Iran? War?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eclipses are simply a sign of an impending war, judgement on mankine and a sign & wonder in the heavens of the Creator's magnificence.

The ancient Mayans & Aztecs understood this!

OK, MTG!

[Anonymous]

This will be a huge and unique event!

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/total-solar-eclipse-sun-science-viewing-2024