The great American eclipse Aug. 21 2017

Just wanting to see if anyone has any plans to try and be somewhere in the path of totality for this event?
If so, and you have to travel, where and why that location?
I'm leaning towards St. Joseph, Missouri. Mostly because there is a full event already planned there, which will have some astronomers in attendance, that will be giving some lectures, and have some nice scopes setup for all to use.
The last one was in 1979, and just clipped the top west corner of the U.S. And the next won't be until 2024, which will go from Texas up to Maine.
I personally have already made sure that I have time off around this event, which will be on a Monday. :beer:

I've been waiting for this day since early 2014. I live near DC so I should be somewhere near 81% of totality. If I could find a way to the main path I would. Hopefully I will be able to get off work if I am working that day because this is a rare occasion. Does anyone know how dark the sky will actually get in DC? I have been told that even though 81% seems like a lot, the sky will still be bright because that one little bit is still a lot of light.

If anyone has any links to filters I can use for my iphone camera please link me to them. Obviously for the eclipse.

Oh, I'm really hoping you guys get perfect weather for this.
What an amazing event to witness!

If any of you have the means and opertunity to see it, I encourage you not miss this event.
I would so much love to come over and see it but that's not going to happen.
Please take photos if you do (I know that goes without saying).

Best of luck and clear skies people.

RB
:wave:

I'm looking to catch the eclipse if I've got the time. I'll probably make a quick trip up to Wyoming if so.

I plan to go to It. I would like to get west of the Mississippi River Do to the long Straight roads out there. It would make moving locations At last minute more doable. I Know Several people that are looking at Wyoming If I can financially do it I may meet them out there.


Edit.

Rivem said:

I'm looking to catch the eclipse if I've got the time. I'll probably make a quick trip up to Wyoming if so.

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Maybe we can meet up xD

Darn it! Just looked at the projection map and I'm waaaaaaaay too far South to be able to see anything.

-Alex

Hap said:

Darn it! Just looked at the projection map and I'm waaaaaaaay too far South to be able to see anything.

-Alex

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The partial eclipse will cover the entire United States. You'd have to at least go up to Oregon to get totallity.

Crazlaser said:

I've been waiting for this day since early 2014. I live near DC so I should be somewhere near 81% of totality. If I could find a way to the main path I would. Hopefully I will be able to get off work if I am working that day because this is a rare occasion. Does anyone know how dark the sky will actually get in DC? I have been told that even though 81% seems like a lot, the sky will still be bright because that one little bit is still a lot of light.

If anyone has any links to filters I can use for my iphone camera please link me to them. Obviously for the eclipse.

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Yes, even at 81% it'll still be bright out. Matter of fact, photographers dont even recommend any camera exposure changes until totality. You'd have to be in the path of totality before there's any drastic light changes. I've heard at that point it's about as light out as a full moon, and you can look directly at the sun with the bare eye.

So... doing some more research today, and it looks like St. Joseph, Missouri is out of the question. It's completely booked up. From what I was told by a coworker, is that some of the hotels there were charging $1000 a night, and still sold out!
So I'm open to suggestions if people have any leads on a good place to go for this event!
Keep in mind that I'm in Arizona, so camping is out of the questions, unless is fairly close, i.e. Wyoming.

If you have any chance, go to a location with totality for some time. There is an enourmous difference between even 99% and full totality, especially if the totality lasts a while.

I had my chance back in '99 and when to bulgaria to see it. Specifically up the coast towards the romanian border to the the maximum totality time, and it was great. We got lucky with a bright and clear day too.

The moment the eclips becomes full is just magical. You feel a sudden drop in temperature, you see the wildlife react, and you see something in the sky that is -completely- different from a minute before.

I have seen a partial eclipse since, but it's really not -that- interesting. The sun is a bit dimmer than usual, but nothing else. Obviously you can see the details when looking at it (through serious protection), but it's more like a partial lunar eclipse than anything spectacular.


As for finding accomodations: Perhaps staying somewhere overnight a bit outside of the totality is a better option. The totality bands is -very- narrow, and you could just drive to be best possible location for viewing and back in a few hours from outside the totality zone.

Driving on the day itself could actually be preferable, it can give you the option to drive to an alternate location along the path if cloudy weather is predicted on one stretch and clear skies on another.

Chrisbee said:

So... doing some more research today, and it looks like St. Joseph, Missouri is out of the question. It's completely booked up. From what I was told by a coworker, is that some of the hotels there were charging $1000 a night, and still sold out!
So I'm open to suggestions if people have any leads on a good place to go for this event!
Keep in mind that I'm in Arizona, so camping is out of the questions, unless is fairly close, i.e. Wyoming.

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My #1 choice would be the Oregon Star Party. I have a few friends going, but it's a bit too far for me to make it that time of year.

With a bit of time, I'll go to Grand Teton NP in Wyoming and camp. If not, maybe Casper, WY.

Chrisbee said:

So... doing some more research today, and it looks like St. Joseph, Missouri is out of the question. It's completely booked up. From what I was told by a coworker, is that some of the hotels there were charging $1000 a night, and still sold out!
So I'm open to suggestions if people have any leads on a good place to go for this event!
Keep in mind that I'm in Arizona, so camping is out of the questions, unless is fairly close, i.e. Wyoming.

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We live in Kansas City and have had a hotel booked in Marshall, Mo for a few months now. Marshall is about 45 miles East of St. Jo. There may still be some rooms available at the Comfort Inn there. It's actually going to be in totality for 2 seconds longer than St. Jo and there won't be as many people there. It's also a CATE site so there will definitely be scopes set up (including mine) at the Indian Foothills Park in Marshall, Mo. I believe there will also be several Astronomical Society of Kansas City (ASKC) members there as well. ASKC will be in charge of several of the programs in St. Jo too.

St. Jo will definitely have more of an eclipse program, but there are going to be A LOT of people there.

Also, you could totally just stay in Kansas City, Mo and then drive out to a location the day of. Kansas City is a great place. Really good breweries, food and things to do. It's really started becoming more of a destination over the past few years.

So as of now, I found a hotel in Rawlins, Wyoming. It's a 2 hr. drive to Casper from there, but still doable.
Plus I booked 4 nights for $300, so WAY cheaper then the rates for a place right around the area of totality. It'll be an 11+ hr. drive to Rawlins, but my car get good gas mileage, and I can now take more gear with me than if I flew out.
So now I have to decide on if I want to get an auto tracker of some sort for my camera. I don't want to have my face glued to it the whole time, and miss everything that will be going on around me. Plus, if I get a tracker, I can start experimenting with deep sky photography.

Interesting. i wonder how well I will be able to see it in Michigan

Chrisbee said:

Just wanting to see if anyone has any plans to try and be somewhere in the path of totality for this event?
If so, and you have to travel, where and why that location?

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Since I live in Laramie, Wyoming, I'm about 50 miles from the edge of the totality path or about 100 miles from the center of that path. I definitely want to travel to the path, but I might have to miss it because of my wife's health.

RB astro said:

Oh, I'm really hoping you guys get perfect weather for this. What an amazing event to witness!...

...Best of luck and clear skies people.
RB:wave:

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Wyoming weather is usually pretty clear in the summertime. May be some high altitude haze from the annual California and Oregon forest fires that will undoubtedly be raging in August.

Rivem said:

With a bit of time, I'll go to Grand Teton NP in Wyoming and camp. If not, maybe Casper, WY.

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I'll bet the Park will be filled beyond capacity and traveling in that area on eclipse day will be a nightmare.

Chrisbee said:

So as of now, I found a hotel in Rawlins, Wyoming. It's a 2 hr. drive to Casper from there, but still doable.
Plus I booked 4 nights for $300, so WAY cheaper then the rates for a place right around the area of totality. It'll be an 11+ hr. drive to Rawlins, but my car get good gas mileage, and I can now take more gear with me than if I flew out.

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Word is, from members of the Wyoming Highway Patrol, that the highways will be a frustrating, clogged mess on the day of the eclipse. I25, the four lane interstate highway that goes through Casper, should keep the traffic moving, but two lane secondary highways in the totality path may be a mess with cars stopping on the shoulders of the road to observe and take pictures. I don't know if the WHP will be doing anything to prevent that parking or not.

Jhop said:

Interesting. i wonder how well I will be able to see it in Michigan

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Looking at the map on the last page of the 2017 "Deep Space Mysteries" calendar put out by Astronomy magazine, it looks like the southern most edge of Michigan is about 275 miles away from the edge of the totality path, so I doubt there'd be much effect to be seen there, maybe a slight dimming?

The path begins on the west coast across Salem, Oregon, and slopes down across the country ending near Charleston, South Carolina.

Ed

Chrisbee said:

So now I have to decide on if I want to get an auto tracker of some sort for my camera. I don't want to have my face glued to it the whole time, and miss everything that will be going on around me. Plus, if I get a tracker, I can start experimenting with deep sky photography.

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If you want to record it in high quality go for the tracker and let automation do it's thing while you enjoy the spectacle.

The actual experience of an eclipse is, for most people, a one or twice in a lifetime thing.

Footage of eclipses is plentiful, and when zoomed in at the sun they all look pretty similar, there will be nothing special about the one you are looking at from that perspective. Wide angle footage on how nature and people react would in fact be much more interesting to watch.

I remember the reaction of birds to it as one of the more remarkable things, them just flying around startled when totality hits. Things like the sudden darkness, temperature chill and such you expect, and looking at the eclipsed sun is great, but the things you do not really foresee are much cooler

Benm said:

If you want to record it in high quality go for the tracker and let automation do it's thing while you enjoy the spectacle.

The actual experience of an eclipse is, for most people, a one or twice in a lifetime thing.

Footage of eclipses is plentiful, and when zoomed in at the sun they all look pretty similar, there will be nothing special about the one you are looking at from that perspective. Wide angle footage on how nature and people react would in fact be much more interesting to watch.

I remember the reaction of birds to it as one of the more remarkable things, them just flying around startled when totality hits. Things like the sudden darkness, temperature chill and such you expect, and looking at the eclipsed sun is great, but the things you do not really foresee are much cooler

Click to expand...

I've actually heard this before, and am contemplating not trying to get eclipse pics at all, and just focus on my surroundings. I'll have 2 cameras with me, so the wife can get some shots too, but if I don't think the tracker will keep the sun in frame good enough, I won't even worry about that part.