Solar Eclipse Day 2017

 I freely borrow from Facebook. (This is still a free country, isn’t it?)

     "There is no science in this world like physics. Nothing comes close to the precision with which physics enables you to understand the world around you. It's the laws of physics that allow us to say exactly what time the sun is going to rise. What time the eclipse is going to begin. What time the eclipse is going to end." - Neil deGrasse Tyson

Peggy Fletcher Stack: My 96-year-old dad Robert Fletcher on watching the solar eclipse from his front porch in Salt Lake City: "The real miracle is that science could predict it with down-to-the-second accuracy."

Then my physicist father exulted: "Physics is true!!!"

Comments: (Too good to exclude.)

Andrew Hamilton: I bear my testimony that physics is true, I love my mom and dad and the Salt Lake Tribune...

David H Bailey: I knew Harvey Fletcher, Jr (mathematician) at BYU. He was your uncle, wasn't he?

Peggy Fletcher Stack: Yes. Still is

Scott Pugsley: As I'm sure your Father would agree, physics is true but it doesn't disprove the existence of God, as some physicists claim.

Peggy Fletcher Stack: Dad said nothing about God today and, though he sees no conflict between God and science, he was simply expressing sheer joy at physics.

 Brigitte's eclipse pictures from Rexburg, Idaho.

     While his family traveled to Wyoming, Jonathan stayed home to work. He drove to the Kansas City Temple grounds to view the eclipse. It is north of them in the totality path. It had rained all morning, sometimes hard. They got their basement flooded. Just at eclipse time, the clouds cleared and he witnessed the eclipse. He was a happy camper. It was cloudy the rest of the day.

 Brent's eclipse day photos.

 Near Douglas, Wyoming 

 As it gets darker and darker in the middle of the day.

  Timeline photo by Eric Melander
North Butte near Menan, Idaho, 12 miles north of Rigby

(catch the Canada Geese left of children)

Brent says these are the best pictures of the eclipse that he has found. By Damian Peach

Here is the full eclipse sequence as captured (rather primitively--thus the dust spots etc) through our 6-inch telescope. It's kind of neat to see the sunspots as they are covered/uncovered by the moon. Best seen via this slideshow: https://www.flickr.com/photos/hughs/…/72157685940343874/show. Brent (Great job, Brent!)

On 8/24/2017 11:13 AM, Brent Hugh writes:

I've read about eclipses for many years, and observed a few partial eclipses. But this was the first total eclipse I saw in person. Here is what surprised me:

1. Baily's Beads all along the edge of the moon, at the far ends of the sun's dwindling crescent, for about the last 30 seconds before totality.

I observed the last 1 minute or so leading up to totality via our 6-inch telescope with a Baader solar filter that gives a very neutral (white) image. I expected to see Baily's Beads just at the last point before the moon covers the sun, as typically seen in Baily's Beads photos like this.

But instead, I saw very clear Baily's Beads all along the thin edge of the crescent, on both ends, as the crescent shrank. So basically along 50% of the moon's circumference, moving from each end of the crescent towards the center.

So for example, I saw the crescent of the sun along (say) 40% of the moon's circumference, then very clear Baily's Beads along the remaining 5%, where it was thinnest, on each side. Then this progressed up towards the center, with 30% of the moon's circumference being a crescent and another 5% at each end of the crescent showing the beads. This proceeded along for many seconds--20 to 30 seconds I would say--until the very final bit of Baily's Beads were just before totality as shown in the NASA photo above.

I haven't found any photos or videos of previous eclipses or this recent eclipse that clearly show this phenomenon--and would be very interested if anyone can find some.

I wonder if the beads were more visible further along the limb simply because the moon & sun were quite close in apparent size this eclipse. Additionally, I'm sure this phenomenon is quite difficult to photograph or video--the contrast is very high, and most photos I see have the center of the crescent super-bright, blooming, and washing out the much dimmer edges of the crescent where this phenomenon was apparent. It was really quite a delicate effect.

#2. The corona was much, much brighter, larger, more detailed, and more colorful than anticipated. This was by far the most striking celestial phenomenon I've ever observed (and yes, I have observed quite a lot).

Photos & video really truly do not come close to capturing it.

#3. Using the 6 inch telescope & solar filter we were able to clearly observe mountains & other irregularities along the moon's limb against the sun.

Particularly there was one fairly large mountain near the tip of the crescent in the 20-40 minutes after totality, that was quite obvious. I've never noticed this during the previous partial eclipses that were observed using the same gear.

These mountains etc we quite easily visible using a moderately high magnification eyepiece with the 6-inch scope--probably around 150X magnification.

Of course, these mountains and other irregularities are responsible for Baily's Beads so we know they are there and observable. But you normally expect them to be too small to observe clearly.

#4. The temperature drop was very, very noticeable and much larger than anticipated. We observed a quite noticeable temperature drop when the sun was about 1/3 covered, and it was even more clearly noticeable near and at totality.

This was particularly interesting to me because I've observed several partial eclipses and never made much of any drop in temperature. This was a very noticeable drop in temperature starting quite early on in the partial eclipse--perhaps just more noticeable because the day was so hot already?

The 360-degree sunset and people (very understandably) freaking out were striking, too--but more in line with what I had read about and was expecting. The sunset effect was particularly beautiful.

 Watercolor Impressions

 Brent

Brent

 Amanda

Naomi

 Meanwhile, back in Fruit Heights . . .

 I saw no glasses as classy as ours - saved from 2012.

The science teacher misses the first day of school due to surgery last week.

Her schools provided solar glasses for all students.

 Bedtime for Gnocchi

Crescents in the street

 The oak tree

 Not a cricket but a befuddled grasshopper.

  

 The garden in the shadow of the eclipse

 A crescent on the squash leaf 

     I wonder if they deliver mail on the day of the eclipse, I ponder as I go out to the mailbox at 9 PM. It seems for all the world like a holiday; one of the grandest of all occasions. Even though we didn’t experience a total eclipse, the crickets chirped so they must have thought night was nigh; and a steely shadow permeated our beings, thoughts and plots. They say a total eclipse is life-changing; it seems tonight as if we too experienced a life-changing event of significant magnitude. I feel differently today than I did yesterday because I beheld something phenomenal; astounding. As Amy and I walked through the hollow at dusk with the sun setting through the trees, it was magical. The crickets were chirping for the second time today. 

A wondrous world.

If I had  it to do over again,

after reading Brent's impressions,

I'd jump in the van Sunday afternoon

and hightail it to Idaho.