August 21, 2017

I did end up watching the webcast of the solar eclipse early Friday morning. It was pretty cool. Just a few minutes before totality, a bank of clouds rolled in, and things looked bad. The announcers pointed out there was a break coming, and you could almost hear them holding their breath. The crowd let out an enormous whoop when the clouds moved past just before the "diamond ring" phase. The corona was much less complex than during a magneticlly active phase of the sun; after the eclipse ended they showed some photos comparing the corona to other eclipses during sunspot maxima. The difference was very interesting- I had never made that connection before.

I had commented that the webcast was the closest I ever expected to get to a total solar eclipse, but after it ended, I Googled "next US solar eclipse" and found this picture at the Exploratorium:

On August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will cross the entire US! I was excited to see how close the line of totality came to Oregon; perhaps, I thought, I would only have to get to Portland...

So I went looking for a more detailed map. Turns out, I don't have to go anywhere; I can just sit outside my favorite coffee shop and watch. Wow! (Full size image here)I guess this means I gotta keep myself alive for another 9 years. For those who don't live in Oregon (sorry 'bout that), here's a full US thumbnail showing the path of totality.You can find the full sized US map and more detailed regional maps here, and the site's home page has lots of great information. Also, check out the Google map the author has created. It's a wait, but it ought to be worth it!