Eclipse

[CrescentMoonie]

Anyone doing anything for it? My parents planned a cross country road trip, without even being aware of the eclipse, and still managed to schedule themselves in Meridian, Idaho for the 21st.

I'm staying in the DC area, but have glasses as we're likely going to get 2+ minutes of 80-90% coverage.

Most importantly, Krispy Kreme is doing a one day only chocolate glaze on their donuts.

https://krispykreme.com/Eclipse

[Thomkal]

Guess I'm going to Krispy Kreme now On the lookout for eclipse glasses when I go out running errands later. The weather has been pretty horrible for eclipse watching recently so hope it clears up by then. Going to have pretty close to 100% "eclipseness" here in Myrtle Beach. Maybe go to the beach if the skies are clear? Otherwise, watching it on the Science Network live coverage.

[QuikSand]

Family hauling to Nashville.

[pbot]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Family hauling to Nashville.

We discussed a family road trip to Nashville. But, if we drive 700 miles down there and its a cloudy day I won't be all that happy. So we're going to the beach instead and will live with the 75% eclipse. I did order several eclipse glasses, hopefully they are legit and we aren't blind later that afternoon.

[Castlerock]

98% eclipse infinitely less than 100% eclipse

[Radii]

Originally Posted by pbot

I did order several eclipse glasses, hopefully they are legit and we aren't blind later that afternoon.

https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters

[molson]

My favorite parts of Idaho that I visit all the time are right in the peak totality zone, but since I won't have time to get there days before and leave days later, I don't trust that routes 21 and 55 up there will be able to handle it - I've seen what those roads look like when there's 1 minor accident. So I'm leaning towards trying my luck with 84 instead and trying the Baker City Oregon area. I have a few desolate spots in mind that I'm going to scout out this weekend. And if I decide that's not a good idea either, I'll head to the top of Bogus Basin Mountain right in Boise, where we won't quite have the full show.

One of my favorite places, Stanley, Idaho, gets close to overwhelmed with the 10k-20k they bring in for a craft festival in July, and the 5k or so that come in for the Sawtooth relay, and it's possible there's hundreds of thousands of people in the area for the eclipse. I get the sense that the local authorities are half-worried, have filled with morbid curiosity about what this could be like in rural Central Idaho. There are not a lot of police there, people will have to figure it out. But it's definitely possible that people are stranded on the roads without help for a long time.

Edit: Also, I wonder how much wildfires impact eclipses. Eastern Oregon and Western Idaho are a smokey mess right now.

[NobodyHere]

Just a dumb random thought but do animals ever go blind by looking at an eclipse or are they generally smart enough not to look?

[pbot]

Originally Posted by Radii

https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters

Thanks. That was the site I used to find a manufacturer of the glasses I ordered over the weekend.

[Thomkal]

well struck out at Wal-mart for glasses-guess I go blind (yeah i know some libraries have them too, Lowe's and Kroger's as well.)

[tarcone]

We get a full eclipse for a couple minutes.
Houses in our area are renting for $1000 a night.
Schools are closing because of the expected traffic and general craziness.

Im going to watch. Fun stuff. I think my vision problems are related to the partial eclipse back in the 70s. I looked up at it without my pin hole viewer.

[PilotMan]

Taking the family and driving down to Bowling Green, KY on Sunday. Booked our hotel reservations a year ago. Then driving over to Hopkinsville in the morning. Hope like hell that the weather is good. One of the things we had to consider was access to bathrooms and food. We'll bring some, but this site said that both would be available with our site purchase. Plus there are restaurants and a family dollar within walking distance.

It might be complete chaos in the town of 30k, but they've been pimping it for over a year, even going so far to rename the town Eclipseville for the event. Hopkinsville is the point of greatest totality with almost 2:45 of darkness.

I've got some eclipse glasses, and they work well. Our house in NKY will get about 90% coverage, but it's nothing compared to the totality. My neighbors don't seem to understand the difference.

[Racer]

Driving down from Louisville, KY to Hopkinsville Monday morning. It's supposed to be a 2.5 hour drive in normal driving conditions so hopefully if I leave at 8 am EST (I believe totality in Hopkinsville is at 2:24 pm EST) I'll be there by the time the Eclipse is at totality.

[tarcone]

More schools closing in our area. Seems the emergency management people feel that the roads will be jammed and keeping school traffic off the roads is a good idea.
First responders are nervous.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Racer

Driving down from Louisville, KY to Hopkinsville Monday morning. It's supposed to be a 2.5 hour drive in normal driving conditions so hopefully if I leave at 8 am EST (I believe totality in Hopkinsville is at 2:24 pm EST) I'll be there by the time the Eclipse is at totality.

I told the family that we needed to leave Bowling Green early. Worried that the traffic is going to be bonkers and it's a small town. Where are you watching the eclipse at?

[Racer]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

I told the family that we needed to leave Bowling Green early. Worried that the traffic is going to be bonkers and it's a small town. Where are you watching the eclipse at?

I haven't decided yet but I'm thinking I should probably buy my parking spot online ahead of time. I think I'm going to try avoid the high school in Hopkinsville and Murray State at least. It seems like it would be a real mess getting out of either one of those places.

Know anything about any of the locations on this?

Public Viewing Areas | Hopkinsville, KY Solar Eclipse 2017

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Racer

I haven't decided yet but I'm thinking I should probably buy my parking spot online ahead of time. I think I'm going to try avoid the high school in Hopkinsville and Murray State at least. It seems like it would be a real mess getting out of either one of those places.

Know anything about any of the locations on this?

Public Viewing Areas | Hopkinsville, KY Solar Eclipse 2017

I paid $30 for the big site at the fairgrounds. It's not advertised on there anymore, so I have to believe that it's sold out now. It's going to be a bitch to get out of there, but they had food, bathrooms, and first aid. Your guess is as good as mine on the other ones, I've never been there before. I had to have the piece of mind that I had somewhere to go before I got there. I don't think I'd feel comfortable just showing up and having no idea where I was going to spend the rest of the day. We had committed to all of it last year, so $30 seemed better than just winging it and hoping for the best.

[PilotMan]

This can give you an idea of all the places in the area too.

http://www.eclipseville.com/wp-conte...7/EventMap.jpg

[pbot]

I was looking at the list of upcoming eclipses. In 2079 a total eclipse/the central path of totality will pass within a mile of my house. I will have to live to be 110 to have a chance to see it.

[FBPro]

Live right in the path, all schools closed that day.

[pbot]

Those maps of eclipse’s path? ‘Wrong,’ experts say. And it’s the sun’s fault | Miami Herald

[CrescentMoonie]

Originally Posted by pbot

Those maps of eclipse’s path? ‘Wrong,’ experts say. And it’s the sun’s fault | Miami Herald

Off by a football field to half a mile. I'll take that range as not being wrong in any substantive manner.

[pbot]

Agreed, was just posting as info for those making the effort to get in the path.

I'm not that knowledgeable about eclipses, so didn't realize that if you are on the edge you might see just a few seconds of the total eclipse vs a couple of minutes in the center of the path. Makes sense, but not something I thought about before reading the article.

[Easy Mac]

So its supposed to pass right over Greenville. We got tickets to the Roper Mountain Science Center to see it there. After they sent out the paper tickets, they e-mailed everyone saying gates close at noon, no one is allowed in after.

That would be fine, except my daughter's school doesn't get out until noon. My wife wants to take her out early, but its the first day of the school year. Now I'm scrambling to find backup pairs of glasses just in case.

[ntndeacon]

We have 94%. And its only the second week of school. I won't take roll that day, but I plan to take whomever comes out to watch...glasses in hand.

[tarcone]

Our school closed. Insurance companies are nervous.

We are in the middle of the path. I will sit on my back porch and watch. We have a southern exposure in my back yard. So I get lots of sun back there.

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Our school closed. Insurance companies are nervous.

We are in the middle of the path. I will sit on my back porch and watch. We have a southern exposure in my back yard. So I get lots of sun back there.

We literally have 4 large, unobstructed fields in our neighborhood. I was perfectly fine watching it there.

[CrescentMoonie]

I'm only going to get around 85% where I am, at least I think it's that much, but I'm in farm country and will enjoy that for what it is.

[PilotMan]

Getting nervous for the weather already. Every day 5 days prior and every day 5 days after is calling for scattered thunderstorms for Hopkinsville. It might end up being fine, but that's not a long term outlook for success or for it to totally clear up.

[Racer]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

This can give you an idea of all the places in the area too.

http://www.eclipseville.com/wp-conte...7/EventMap.jpg

Ended up reserving a parking spot in a park in Crofton, KY (about 14 miles north of Hopkinsville). The total eclipse will last about 7 seconds less there then in Hopkinsville but I'm hoping I'll be able to avoid some of the traffic after the total eclipse is over since it's about 15 minutes closer in normal traffic back to Louisville, Lexington, etc.

[Julio Riddols]

We're right in the middle of it and people are freaking he hell out here. I guess they are expecting something like 30-40 thousand people in a place with a population under 10k. Our hotel has been sold out since like June, the roads are going to be impenetrable, I have considered buying a shit ton of water and selling it for a couple bucks a bottle considering the speculation is that our water system will basically explode under the stress it will be put under.

It'll be interesting, I expect to enjoy the couple minutes the eclipse lasts, but I also expect to be extremely glad when its over and everyone clears out.

[kcchief19]

Yeah, I've been traveling every day to St. Joseph, Mo. for work and the eclipse cuts right through town. Population is 76,000 and their crazy estimates are that between 100,000 to 500,000 will try to get there for the eclipse.

My house is in 100% totality but only for 2:11 seconds. I know an obscure boat dock and picnic area near a tiny lake that will have 2:39 of totality. Thinking of packing up the family and heading there for the extra 28 seconds. The other benefit is that it's out in the country and far from city lights.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by CrescentMoonie

Anyone doing anything for it? My parents planned a cross country road trip, without even being aware of the eclipse, and still managed to schedule themselves in Meridian, Idaho for the 21st.

I'm staying in the DC area, but have glasses as we're likely going to get 2+ minutes of 80-90% coverage.

Most importantly, Krispy Kreme is doing a one day only chocolate glaze on their donuts.

https://krispykreme.com/Eclipse

I remember the 1978 eclipse was 75% in my area and it was totally unremarkable. Only way you could tell there was an eclipse was using the pinhole in a box and see the crescent in the shadow cast by the sunlight. I've been waiting for this for 40 years -- I remember hearing about this eclipse back then.


Wish there was a convenient Krispy Kreme less than 30 miles from my house ...

[tarcone]

mmmmm chocolate glaze.

I think people are preparing for the worst. Our whole county has shut down for the eclipse.
People are freaking out. I cant imagine that many people will come out.

We have 2 minutes and 24 seconds of totality. I cant wait.

And I looked into the sun during the eclipse in the 70s. I blame my bad eyes on that.

That pin hole viewer sucked

[tarcone]

Just saw on the news that Missouri is expecting 300k to 1.2 million visitors for this.

[PilotMan]

Hopkinsville is prepping for close to 200k. That's insane and way more than I had expected when we planned it last year. The weather has taken a turn for the better. As of today, expecting sun and 88. So it's gonna be a cooker. Just need those clouds to stay away and make sure the gas tank and cooler is full before we get there. May take hours just to get out.

[albionmoonlight]

Got a nice cabin rental in Sky Valley, GA.

Weather just took a bad turn there. Really, really don't want fucking rain.

[Masked]

I'm heading to Idaho Falls with my son. We'll have to drive up from Salt Lake City because I couldn't get flights in by the time I booked but we'll get there two days before and not leave until Tuesday. I'm very glad that I decided to spend the money to actually stay in the path of the eclipse rather than needing to drive somewhere that morning.

We've got all day Sunday to do something - I had considered driving over to either Yellowstone or Craters of the Moon but am getting uneasy with all the talk of massive amounts of traffic.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I've seen enough Europa Universalis playthroughs to know how these things can get.

[Easy Mac]

f/u on me, I can't get out of work before 12:15, but I'm still taking the time off but don't get to see it with my daughter. Instead I get to watch it at home with the dog... Assuming traffic isn't so bad that I can make it from my work to my house in 2 hours. It took me 90 minutes to get home 2 weeks ago, so with eclipse traffic, who knows.

[Chief Rum]

Okay, so I saw an article talking about booming weed shops in the path of the eclipse, as apparently this celestial event is being viewed by some of our more chemically-inclined individuals as having potential for an existential experience.

And it gave me a flash of thought into the future.

A. There will be millions of people exposed to the eclipse, both totality and partial.
B. There will be some subset of those millions, possibly itself numbering in the millions, who are utter slackwits and morons. Pot smokers might in particular represent a larger percentage of this subset.

Ergo...

C. There will be a LOT of damaged eyes on Monday. Like, thousands. It could be so common an affliction that opthalmology journals may give it a name, like the Great Eclipsilitis Scare of 2017.

I almost feel like we should round people up and put them in a dark, windowless room for a few hours to save them from themselves. Or pay for free sessions in sensory deprivation tanks.

Or we could step aside and let Darwin do his work.

[thesloppy]

That's a great point, considering marijuana never existed until just recently.

[SteveM58]

NASA TV will be covering it....

http://www.tvtechnology.com/news/000...eclipse/281621

[tarcone]

Hot here. Partly cloudy, but high thin clouds.

No weed here though.

[B & B]

This shit is getting re-dick.

School starts down here on Thursday the 17th.

WTF???!?!?!?

So, classes Thu and Fri, and close the school for the eclipse on Monday?

SRSLY???? I'm not in school , nor do I have kids but this is so F'd up./

[PilotMan]

Wx Risk has his free weather outlook for the eclipse.

DTVaWeatherman on Twitter: "*ALERT !** UPDATED WXRISK SOLAR ECLIPSE Wx FOR AUG 21 .. 100% free in depth.. Please share... new report 8pm WED
https://t.co/WyzpJMfeEH"

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by B & B

This shit is getting re-dick.

School starts down here on Thursday the 17th.

WTF???!?!?!?

So, classes Thu and Fri, and close the school for the eclipse on Monday?

SRSLY???? I'm not in school , nor do I have kids but this is so F'd up./

Schools always want to start on a short week. Over the sumer maintenence and improvement projects happen every year. Short week provides for a stress test then a quick break for repairs.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

That's a great point, considering marijuana never existed until just recently.

Eh, marijuana probably isn't as big of a percentage factor as CR says, but I have no doubt that the eye damage from the sun will be unprecedented. The U.S. population has more than tripled since the last total eclipse of this magnitude in our country, people are far more mobile, and publicity around it is tremendously greater.

So, yeah, sure, there will be far more potheads than ever who screw up their eyes on Monday. That feels like a pretty safe statement to me. *shurg*

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Just saw on the news that Missouri is expecting 300k to 1.2 million visitors for this.

Yeah it's going to be nuts!

I'm heading to my Mom's house 15 miles South of us to watch the 59s totality. My daughter has school but I'm taking her with me.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

So, yeah, sure, there will be far more potheads than ever who screw up their eyes on Monday. That feels like a pretty safe statement to me. *shurg*

Well sure, if your only qualification for that is saying that more people in general are going to damage their eyes, then far more nuclear physicists are going to damage their eyes than ever before on Monday as well. On the other hand, if you want to imply that pot smokers as a group are far more likely to stare into the sun than any other group, then you've lost me. Conservative voters, for example, have demonstrated much worse judgment when it comes to understanding the outside effects on their own lives and health, as a group.