..and what you'll see if you're in it!
Go here to visit Xavier Jubier's Interactive
Google Map. Well, first, you'll go to an instruction page - but then, you can go on to Xavier's wonderful map!)
The link will take you to a map of the US. Zoom in and click on any location to see the local times and circumstances for the
eclipse!
What about the person who is standing in one spot, waiting for the shadow to overtake and engulf them? What will they see?
Well, we always tell people that seeing an eclipse is like having children: If you don't have them, we'll never be able to explain
what it's like. And if you do, then we won't have to!
(But that doesn't mean we won't try anyway...!)
(Note: We mention "filters" throughout this discussion. What we're talking about is the special filter material that is made
specifically for viewing the sun through. This filter material is made by several companies, and can be found in many different
forms - from eclipse glasses to sheets that can be cut
and made into customized filters for cameras, telescopes, and binoculars, and solid glass filters for use with large telescopes. If you are going to try to do anything more than buy
enough eclipse viewing glasses to share with your friends, then we would
suggest you visit some of the wonderful sites on the internet that will show you some of the photographic and visual uses of
this amazing material! But do NOT try to improvise your own material - ONLY use filter material that has been specifically
manufactured and sold as safe for direct solar viewing!)
|
Oops! You're way north of the path! |
Well, that's 'cause you were in the wrong place. If you saw the Moon go over the top side of the Sun, then you were too far south.
If it skirted the bottom part of the Sun, then you should've been farther south. People there got the show, and you didn't. And
there's no TIVO here, man - you missed it, and the Moon ain't gonna back up and give you any do-overs. That's all she wrote for
2017, and it's a long swim to get to the next one.
Now, if you're just outside the path, like maybe less than 30 miles or so, then you will experience "deep" partiality. The Moon
will still track off-center, but at the time of maximum coverage, lots of the Sun will end up being covered by it. Now, it's
still not safe to look at without filters (!), but the deeper the partiality you get, the more of the "eclipse" effects
you'll get to see. By that, we mean that you'll see (through your eclipse glasses, of course) a very thin sliver of the sun - the closer you are to the
path, the thinner the sliver you'll see. You'll also get to see the sky darken a bit, and if you're really close to the
path, the overall eerieness of the quality of the light around you will deepen, and you'll get that weird feeling that the light
isn't right, and that something very strange is going on around you. But, that's it. That's all you'll get, and like your friends
who are still well outside the path, you'll also come away feeling like you got robbed.
Partiality deepens
Let's say, then, that you've happily found your way into the path. EVERYTHING THAT FOLLOWS ASSUMES YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF TOTALITY. You don't have to be right on the centerline, but the closer to
the centerline you are, the more totality you'll get. Most eclipse observers like to stay on or near the centerline, but there are
some who enjoy the "edge" effects you get by being just inside the northern or southern path limits - more about them later. For now,
let's consider if you're in the middle half of the path, nearer the centerline than you are to either edge. What happens then?
Well, you'll still see all the effects of deepening partiality. You'll get the shrinking sliver of Sun, which is kind of cool but
is not the real show. As the sliver thins, though, you get the very weird atmosphere that surrounds an eclipse, which is very
difficult to describe. As the sliver of sun gets thinner and thinner, the sky darkens a bit, and the light around you takes on
a weird, "clearer" quality. Everything seems sharper and clearer, though darker. It's kind of like if you were squinting, and
everything seemed much clearer to you. It's very strange, and it's a very powerful effect on your senses.
As partiality deepens, and the sliver of Sun shrinks even more, the sky gets darker - very slowly, but noticeably darker. You don't
really see it happening, but you can tell it's changing somehow. The shadows on the ground become very sharp, very
contrasty, and you feel like there's something wrong with your eyes. At this point, some veteran eclipsers will put an eye patch
over one of their eyes, to get it dark-adapted so they can see more detail in the corona during the upcoming totality. Some people don't like
that idea, because they like to use both eyes to see totality, and besides, wearing sunglasses during this darkening period probably
gets your pupils as open as they're gonna get. But many people do it, so there must be something to it. We wouldn't recommend you do
it if this is your first eclipse.
The wind picks up a bit, and the temperature drops noticeably. Birds roost, evening insects come out, and the world prepares for
sunset in the middle of the day....
Onset of Totality
Partiality deepens even more, and the atmosphere actually starts to be a little scary. The sky gets deeper and deeper dark blue,
and the Sun-sliver gets thin enough that you can actually (through your filters, remember?) start to see it shrinking as you watch
it. In the five minutes before totality, you can really get a feel for how earth-shatteringly frightening this event must have been
to ancient people who had no idea what was going on. We can truly believe that people could have been frightened to death! But not
us - the spectacle gets your heart beating fast, your mouth watering for more, and your whole body trembling with excitement
that you're being swept along in a wonderful dance of the cosmos that nothing is going to stop. But we're all too "modern" to allow
anything like this to affect us...emotionally, right? Don't you believe it!
As the last bite of the Sun slides away, things happen way too fast to describe concisely. You simply cannot focus on every one
of the events that are taking place all around you, so you have to pick the few that seem the coolest to you. (There will be more eclipses,
after all, and in about 5 minutes you're going to be on the phone making travel plans to see the next one!) The most important thing
going on is the actual Sun up in the sky, but let's take a peek at just a couple of other things first.
The sky surrounding the Sun will grow very dark very quickly. In real time, you will be able to see the deep blue turn to twilight
blue, and then to bluish-black. Stars and planets will pop out of nowhere. Roosters will crow and insects will chirp as though night
is falling. If you look to the west, you'll see a beautiful black curtain rising up out of the Earth, with hints of sunset-orange north and south of it, while
off to the east, the sky at the horizon is still rather light. On the ground, your shadow will become impossibly clear and thin, and
then will vanish completely as the Sun's light fades to about the intensity of the full Moon. In the last few seconds before
totality, that dull blackness you saw off to the west will suddenly spring up out of the Earth, and take over the whole sky
like a gigantic curtain being pulled over you - like that scene in the original Disney Fantasia movie - only about a hundred times
faster. If you aren't focused on the Sun at that time (like most people will be), you'll be looking at the actual shadow of the
Moon racing toward you at supersonic speed, covering you with its blackness. If you see that, you're very lucky, because it happens
so fast. And besides, you'll probably be too awe-struck by what's going on center stage...
As the last sliver of Sun melts away, you will be able to see several things happening simultaneously. You will now definitely
have the feeling that there are two bodies involved, because it is impossible to miss the disk of the Moon in these last seconds.
(You should still be watching through the eclipse glasses, by the way.) But while the last bit of the sliver is shrinking, the Sun's corona will
start to come out. The last little bit of the Sun's light will glare through valleys on the Moon, and will create a "bead" effect
at the edge of the Moon's disk. These are called "Baily's Beads", and they are stunning. These will dance around a little, and then
will fade away as the very last one of them brightens into a huge bead. Around the edge of the Moon, the Sun's corona will begin to glow, giving us the famous "diamond ring" effect. It lasts for
only about 2-3 seconds, but it is stunning beyond words. Most people will take their filters off at this point (though
technically, you're not supposed to look until the diamond ring is totally gone, we're just saying that most people choose to do it anyway).
You will see the corona burst into view as the diamond fades away, appearing as though someone is smearing wispy-white cotton candy
all around the impossibly black hole that's been cut out of the fabric of the blue-black sky. (We are convinced that the corona comes out while
the diamond is still blazing away, and it is a beautiful sight to see.) There may be tongues of red fire visible around the edge of
the Sun - these are solar prominences, and no one knows what they will look like until they see them right along with you.
Someone will blow a whistle to signify that totality has officially begun, and you can take your viewing glasses and all
your filters off, and stare away. If there's no whistle, then once you can't see anything at all with your filters, take them off!
You will see nothing if you keep them on, and now, during totality, they're not necessary! Keep them in your hand for when
totality is over, but use your eyes. Use your binoculars with impunity. Don't look away if you can help it. The diamond is gone,
all the sun's light is blocked, and you're looking at the most beautiful thing you're likely to ever see - the solar corona,
shimmering around the Moon's disk brilliantly (and which is only about as bright as the full Moon). It will look to you as though someone has
painted the sky a deep blue-black, has cut an impossibly-black hole in it with a pair of scissors, and then smeared radiant,
glowing, shimmering cotton candy around that hole. No picture in the world can do justice to the sight you have before you, and you
will want to etch it in your memory forever. Ten years from now, you'll still be able to imagine this sight in your mind - so burn
it in there now, while you can. Listen to the people around you scream and yell and hoot and holler and yell "Oh My God" and do
whatever else it is they do when there's nothing else to do but blither like a mad fool. Look and enjoy the gift you've been
given - and be amazed.
If you have a second to look away, look at the horizon all around you. It will be the orange of a sunset, all the way around the
whole horizon! You are in the middle of the circle of shadow that the Moon has projected onto the surface of the Earth, and all
around you at the horizon, the eclipse is not total! You're seeing the sunset effects of the Sun's light from a hundred miles away or
so, all around you! It will be too dark for you to see anything close at hand, but remember NO flashlights, NO flash pictures
(they won't come out, and you'll ruin the scientists' pictures). Just stand there and enjoy it. Hoot and holler all you want. Talk
to the Sun. Thank it for its gift in your own special way. After all, whatever craziness happens in the shadow, stays in the shadow.
After the initial cheers from the crowd, the atmosphere will settle a little, and you'll be tempted to look away. This is the
stage where you have to remember that you're only going to get this show for a minute or two, and you have to record it in your
mind in order to keep it forever. NO pictures will ever do it
justice, so whatever you store in your brain is what you're going to be left with. Enjoy it, and immerse yourself in it. Tomorrow, you will look at the pictures
in the paper, and you won't believe that those are pictures of what you remember seeing! (We told you so!)
You'll know when totality is finally coming to an end, because the western sky will brighten dramatically. The shadow is racing along
to the next group of eagerly-awaiting victims to the east, and your time is sadly coming to an end. The right side of the Sun's
black disk will brighten a little, you may see prominences or chromosphere again,
and some people will plaintively yell "no, please don't go away". Just like that, the corona will dim, the diamond ring will flash
into view on the right side of the Sun's disk (and it's time again for your eclipse glasses to go on!), the whistle will blow, the beads will come
back, and it will be over. That bright bead of sunlight tells you that the Sun has come back, and you need to IMMEDIATELY put on
your viewing glasses or filters. Totality is gone for you, and you will
desperately want it to not be gone. Your brain will be frantically clearing its buffers, filing away the overload of memories of what you've just seen into permanent storage, and your body
will be weak from the adrenaline crash that now comes over you. Everyone will cheer like idiots. The shadows will come back, the
sky will brighten, and the sliver of Sun will majestically return. This is third contact - the end of totality - and you've just
joined the very select, very small percentage of humans who have witnessed a total solar eclipse. Congratulations!
After Totality
We believe this is the most anticlimactic feeling a person can have in life. In under two hours, you've been built up so much by
the events that have overtaken your senses, and you've just experienced a hundred-second orgasm of amazement with a few
hundred of your new comrades in eclipsedom, only to be dropped like a rock into the ocean of anticlimax while the Moon marches on across the face
of the Sun. There is no more show to be had, and nothing you can do to see it again until the next one comes around in a year or
so, in some far-off corner of the planet. After the spectacle of totality, the views of the waxing crescent Sun that are still
there for the viewing will seem silly to you, and you'll likely just want to go relax somewhere with friends and a favorite
beverage or two. Later that night, you'll see pictures on the news. The next day, you'll see pictures in the paper, and you
won't believe those pictures are of the same thing you saw. That's how bad pictures are! You'll smile, because you will have the
memory of your most perfect view of the glory of a total eclipse, and that can now never be taken away from you.
Traffic driving away from your viewing location may be tight, so you could simply plan on staying right where you are for a time.
You might want to take a bit of the dirt that was around your feet, and save it in a film canister or a baggie as a memento of
something that physically shared your experience. But you will feel a curious mix of letdown and exhilaration and pride and
withdrawal. You will feel like you've shared something intimate and erotic with all the people around you, while at the same time
something so personal, you're scared to try and describe it lest it escape your memory as the inadequately descriptive words escape from
your mouth. Please though, come back to this site and share your experiences with us - we want to share them with the world!
The Edge of Totality
There are those who like to be near the edge of totality. Before we talk about them, let us be very clear - if this is your
first eclipse, you would do much better to try and station yourself near the centerline, in order to maximize your experience
of totality. But some eclipse veterans feel strongly that the tradeoff of less time in the shadow near the edge is more than
compensated for by the intensity and splendor of the changing effects they see "out there". It is true that you will see
more chromosphere - that thin band of deep, beautiful red that hugs the solar disk - near the edge than at the centerline.
(In fact, it has been said that at the edge, you get chromosphere for the entire duration of totality, whereas near the centerline,
you only get it for a few seconds at the onset and end of totality.) You will also see the effects of Baily's Beads,
as thin slivers of sunlight dance in and out of lunar mountains and valleys along the edge. One of the most valuable things
amateurs can do at the edge, in fact, is to accurately (within tenths of a second) record on video those effects, so that the
lunar limb profile can be more accurately mapped. If you wish to do this, you need to have a very high-resolution camera, a
very accurate fix on your latitude and longitude (use a good GPS), and a time signal that has been checked to be within a half-second
or so of actual UT (synch with the WWV signal or time.gov, and make sure you're recording the time stamp or audible signal as
well). If that sounds like a lot of work, it is! We will be coordinating some efforts to perform these activities
along the path edge in a couple of cities, and if you'd like to participate, please let us
know!
And for those who would like to see a little more...
*For a discussion of UT, see this site. The quick and dirty of it is that whenever you see
"UT", take the time you see, and:
subtract 4 hours if you're in the Eastern Time Zone
subtract 5 hours if you're in the Central Time Zone
subtract 6 hours if you're in the Mountain Time Zone
subtract 7 hours if you're in the Pacific Time Zone
(assuming Daylight Saving Time)