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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Because of wow. / Saturday Morning Open Thread: “America’s Greatest [Tourist] Mass Migration”

Saturday Morning Open Thread: “America’s Greatest [Tourist] Mass Migration”

by Anne Laurie|  August 5, 20176:02 am| 218 Comments

This post is in: Because of wow., Open Threads, Science & Technology

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I might be enjoying this tool simulating what I will see during the solar eclipse more than I will the real event. https://t.co/vmeVSwiUZY pic.twitter.com/gdoX348n52

— Allison Rockey (@AllisonRockey) July 25, 2017

Who’s getting set for the Big Event? I know some of you are located fairly close to the path of totality, and others have made plans to visit.

The Washington Post has a helpful consumer guide, especially concerning those all-important solar viewers:

… You’ll find glasses online and in retail stores, including paper and plastic versions, starting at a few dollars for one pair up to about $20 for a multiple pack of glasses.

Read the consumer comments before you buy. When I did, several people who purchased from reputable manufacturers complained that their glasses arrived damaged. Do not use damaged eyewear to view the eclipse. Return them for a replacement. Even glasses that are scratched or wrinkled should be avoided, according to NASA. The agency also cautions against using eclipse-viewing eyewear that is more than 3 years old.

You can find a full compilation of NASA’s safety information at https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety. By the way, the agency will have live programming and interactive online content during the eclipse at https://www.nasa.gov/eclipselive…

And the Atlantic goes full, well, “spectacle”:

… About 12 million Americans live in the path of totality, and some 200 million others live within a day’s drive, according to federal officials. Depending on weather and how many people are up for a Monday road trip, some 2 to 7 million of them are expected to travel to that narrow zone on August 21—meaning travelers may experience some of the worst traffic jams in American history, according to Martin Knopp, an administrator at the Federal Highway Administration. If it’s cloudy in some cities on the path, more people might try to move to areas with clear skies, clogging the nation’s arterial highways even more.

The eclipse is “a special event for which there has been no recent precedent,” the highway authority says. The days before and after the eclipse could see the greatest temporary mass migration of humans to see a natural event in U.S. history.

That means things could get dicey, especially in the West and Midwest, where summer temperatures spike to the upper 80s. Most of America is open land, so the problem isn’t space, but logistics. Twenty interstate highways are in the path of totality, but most towns on the path are only accessible by a few county or city roads. And most towns on the eclipse path have limited resources—and limited portable toilets—to accommodate a groundswell of visitors. Glendo, Wyoming, population 202, is soliciting donations via GoFundMe to help pay for sanitation and trash services to accommodate its expected 50,000 visitors. In Madras, Oregon, where scientists and tourists are flocking for its clear, high-desert skies, local officials are telling residents to stock up on necessities like medical supplies and water. State officials have called up the National Guard to help manage crowds, estimated to top 1 million across the state…

I dimly remember a great fooferaw about an earlier near-totality event, sometime in the early 1960s, when I was a kid in the Bronx. Though, to be truthful, I don’t remember the event nearly as much as I remember my parents, the nuns, and seemingly every newsperson on the black-and-white tv warning us that if we looked directly at the sun even for just the tiniest second, we’d immediately be stricken blind. (And then, or so I gathered, they would all take great pleasure in reminding the unfortunate victims that we had been warned… )

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Reader Interactions

218Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    August 5, 2017 at 6:13 am

    I wish I were in the path so I wouldn’t have to decide whether to travel to see it.

  2. 2.

    rikyrah

    August 5, 2017 at 6:16 am

    Good Morning,Everyone ???

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 5, 2017 at 6:19 am

    We are in the path of totality. Gonna have family and a few friends in for it, not too many tho. Suggesting to all that they arrive the day before and avoid the travel nightmare (predictions are for Armageddon scenarios in STL). Plan to slow roast either a pork shoulder or a beef brisket in the smoker, everybody is gonna bring a little something to share.

    ETA and all this means we will have cloudy skies all day on the 21.

  4. 4.

    raven

    August 5, 2017 at 6:20 am

    99% here, they are opening the UGA football stadium for the event.

  5. 5.

    Bobby Thomson

    August 5, 2017 at 6:21 am

    Saw the title and thought this would be about tourists choosing not to visit the US because we are stupid di(kheads and chose one to lead us.

  6. 6.

    oldster

    August 5, 2017 at 6:27 am

    I’m from a family of scientists, I used to sky-watch as a kid, and…I don’t get it.

    Why are people going so ga-ga over this event? Why are 50,000 people going to descend on Glendo, or anywhere else in the totality area, for a 3-minute light-show?

    I’m really puzzled that this is a mass=population event.

  7. 7.

    raven

    August 5, 2017 at 6:32 am

    @oldster: Yea, because it happens every week right??

  8. 8.

    Baud

    August 5, 2017 at 6:32 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning.

  9. 9.

    Baud

    August 5, 2017 at 6:33 am

    @oldster: Two celestial events on my bucket list are an eclipse and an Aurora Borealis.

  10. 10.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 5, 2017 at 6:37 am

    @Bobby Thomson: Well it is true we are stupid dickheads but a majority of us did not choose the stupid dickhead presently on permanent vacation in his own head to take up residence in the White House.

  11. 11.

    M. Bouffant

    August 5, 2017 at 6:44 am

    I think I remember that early ’60s eclipse as well. And almost as much “Don’t look at it directly” hysteria.

    There was a partial one visible from Los Angeles in the early to mid nineties. I know I remember that.

  12. 12.

    OldDave

    August 5, 2017 at 6:44 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    ETA and all this means we will have cloudy skies all day on the 21.

    Please don’t say that – we’re driving ~1200 miles to your neck of the woods to visit with family and see totality. Or clouds.

  13. 13.

    JPL

    August 5, 2017 at 6:44 am

    I’m not traveling the 49 miles in order to see a total eclipse. A partial eclipse is fine with me.

  14. 14.

    MattF

    August 5, 2017 at 6:45 am

    @Baud: I’ve seen an aurora– once in college (Ithaca, NY). Not as bright as the aurorae (sp?) further north, but still pretty impressive.

  15. 15.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 5, 2017 at 6:46 am

    @oldster: I’m kinda with you there. I understand why it is a big deal to so many people (for most it is a once in a lifetime event) and yet if I was not in the path of totality I would not drive to see it. It certainly is not going to be a life changing event for me. As is, it is a good excuse to get together with folks.

  16. 16.

    Nancy

    August 5, 2017 at 6:51 am

    Backyard in the 60s, parents working out how to make a pinhole camera on the spot. Hadn’t been to school yet so I’d missed the warnings from other authorities, but parents did say not to look. I blinked and still remember the clouds, the brightness, the silver-white sun. Told my parents that I looked and my father didn’t believe me, so no panic ensued.
    Since I didn’t go blind, maybe that moment pushed me along my later path of resistance. Or maybe I just grew up in the 60s.

  17. 17.

    Catherine D.

    August 5, 2017 at 6:52 am

    There was a total eclipse in the NE US on March 7, 1970. It was my birthday, so I remember!

  18. 18.

    MomSense

    August 5, 2017 at 6:53 am

    @M. Bouffant:

    I remember one from the early 90s, too. I think I made some kind of shoebox viewer and watched with my then toddler.

  19. 19.

    Nancy

    August 5, 2017 at 6:54 am

    @Baud: Living near a great lake, Ontario, helps in aurora viewing. Have seen the lights three times in a rather long life. Never know when it will happen. Sometimes the local TV station used to break in on a show to tell us.

  20. 20.

    Jeffro

    August 5, 2017 at 6:54 am

    We’re still due to see something like an 85% eclipse in NoVA, I think, so we’re staying put. Original plan had been to drive out to Harrisonburg or Roanoke for the day, but I-81 can be a pain even on a good day. Plus who wants to be in Roanoke when the lights go out? ;)

  21. 21.

    Knight of Nothing

    August 5, 2017 at 6:55 am

    @Baud: both of those celestial events are on mine as well.

    We live in Minnesota, but we have family & friends in Oregon, so we are headed to Madras, OR for the SolarFest. Not looking forward to traffic and crowds, but I’m excited for the event and geared up with viewing & photographic equipment.

    @JPL: you should consider it! Totality is the whole show. Even at 99% obscured, the sun is bright enough that this is equivalent to a cloudy day.

  22. 22.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 5, 2017 at 6:58 am

    @OldDave: No fears, I’m lousy at predicting the weather but have a near perfect record of nice weather for important events. Now all I have to do is decide whether this is an important event or not.

  23. 23.

    Nelle

    August 5, 2017 at 7:02 am

    I’m 18 miles from totality. I want to find a country toad with a herd of cows near the fence and see what they do. If everyone is running around crazy though, I may just stay put and enjoy 99.5. It was very cloudy in Seattle for a near total eclipse in late 70’s or early 80’s. The one time I was in total control of a wild English freshman class…they got very somber and asked if the world was ending, despite what I thought was a thorough scientific preparation. (This was one of the classes I remember most fondly, despite their untamable ways…they were so spunky and good at heart. I hope they’ve had much goodness in their lives.)

  24. 24.

    p.a.

    August 5, 2017 at 7:02 am

    I remember one as a kid (I’m 58) here in New Eng. Not sure the %, but it did get dark to the point of dusk IIRC. There was interest but I don’t remember big time traveling about them before internet days.

  25. 25.

    Baud

    August 5, 2017 at 7:03 am

    @Knight of Nothing:

    so we are headed to Madras, OR

    I heard on the news that a lot of Oregon was cloudy from wildfires. I hope that clears up for you.

  26. 26.

    Raven

    August 5, 2017 at 7:04 am

    I bought 10 pair of glasses on Amazon but now i worry that they are bogus.

  27. 27.

    Keith P.

    August 5, 2017 at 7:05 am

    I fed my cat (she wanted to eat outside) this morning at 5:45. A few minutes later, the sound of eating is real loud, and she jumps on the desk in my office. Outside on the back porch are *SIX* juvenile raccoons eating at her pile of food. And while I was taking pictures, a large adult (which I have chased out of my house on numerous occasions) wandered over, for a grand total of SEVEN raccoons. The juveniles are even friendlier than the adults, too…a few of them came right up to me at the back door. But then I remind myself of a friend’s rabies needle story and shut the door.

  28. 28.

    rikyrah

    August 5, 2017 at 7:05 am

    Comedian DL Hughley commenting on the P&G ad about “The Talk” and conservative response to it

    https://youtu.be/Jf3-jXWIDKo

  29. 29.

    Baud

    August 5, 2017 at 7:08 am

    How do animals know not to look at the sun?

  30. 30.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 5, 2017 at 7:10 am

    There was a total solar eclipse in March 1970 whose path crossed Florida and then hugged the entire eastern seaboard of the US. It was much-hyped — “Darkness at Noon” was a popular media sobriquet — but there was so much cloud cover that it turned out to be a bust in a lot of places, so that was disappointing after a great deal of buildup and anticipation.

    For 2017 I live pretty close to the path of totality and — assuming clear skies this time — plan to make a day trip of it. Will probably just drive up to Anderson, SC or maybe Rabun County, GA, find a rest stop or parking lot somewhere, hang out for the eclipse, and then turn around and come back home. But if the weather forecast is for overcast skies, I likely won’t bother.

  31. 31.

    Knight of Nothing

    August 5, 2017 at 7:10 am

    @Baud: thanks, me too! Seeking a high-altitude desert seemed like a good bet. Fingers crossed.

    @Raven: check here for a list of reputable vendors – https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters

  32. 32.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 5, 2017 at 7:11 am

    @Baud:

    How do animals know not to look at the sun?

    They do what the nuns tell them.

  33. 33.

    Raven

    August 5, 2017 at 7:15 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: I don’t think you are looking at just a leisurely drive that day.

  34. 34.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 5, 2017 at 7:17 am

    @Raven: I got 24 from amazon, not what I was expecting either.. shrug if I go blind I’ll have somebody to sue at least.

  35. 35.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 5, 2017 at 7:18 am

    Here’s a useful page of all solar eclipses visible from the U.S. with dates they occurred (will occur) and maps showing the path of darkness.

  36. 36.

    NotMax

    August 5, 2017 at 7:19 am

    Attention Republicans: Gee, if science is right about this then perhaps they’re on the beam with some other predictions too.

    Although wouldn’t be shocked to find out there exist eclipse denial groups.

  37. 37.

    Raven

    August 5, 2017 at 7:19 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: these have all the ISO or whatever on them, they are really dark but who knows?

  38. 38.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 5, 2017 at 7:19 am

    @Raven:

    Well, I’m doubling estimated travel time in anticipation of crowded highways.

  39. 39.

    rikyrah

    August 5, 2017 at 7:20 am

    Parents talk with their children about how to deal with the police

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=coryt8IZ-DE#

  40. 40.

    Baud

    August 5, 2017 at 7:22 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Thanks. April 8, 2024 might be doable for me.

  41. 41.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    August 5, 2017 at 7:24 am

    I am flying to Charleston SC. Most impulsive thing I’ve done in years. I guess it’s a way of saying “I’m retired, I can do this stuff now”. I got my impulse early enough, maybe April/May, that there were still plenty of flights, hotels, car rentals.

    I left time before and after for sightseeing. Don’t expect big mobs on the weekend but who knows. On advice from folks here I’m going to try to see the eclipse from Sullivan’s Island, and this sounds like maybe I should go there in the morning to pick my spot for the afternoon event.

  42. 42.

    Betty Cracker

    August 5, 2017 at 7:25 am

    My daughter and I talked about driving up to the Carolinas to see the total eclipse (hubby thinks we’re daft), but turns out work and school schedules don’t allow for it, so we’ll have to be satisfied with the 80% or so we get here in FL. Thanks for the reminder to buy glasses for it!

  43. 43.

    Raven

    August 5, 2017 at 7:26 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Were headed to Edisto the week before.

  44. 44.

    Fester Addams

    August 5, 2017 at 7:29 am

    I’ve read that the most amazing part, if you’re located somewhere you can see it, is seeing the shadow of the moon coming at you over the ground at something like 2,000 mph.

  45. 45.

    A Ghost to Most

    August 5, 2017 at 7:30 am

    @Nancy:
    My wife and I saw an incredible Aurora in Shippensburg, PA (south central) in 80 or 81. I never saw one growing up along Lake Ontario (Lyndonville), though.

  46. 46.

    NotMax

    August 5, 2017 at 7:31 am

    How soon after totality will it take for Dolt 45 to tweet credit for bringing back the Sun?

  47. 47.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 5, 2017 at 7:32 am

    I have been pretty busy IRL last week and was wondering if there has there been a thread on the T admin blessed immigration reform bill by Cotton and Perdue, that I missed?
    Thanks.

  48. 48.

    Ohio Mom

    August 5, 2017 at 7:32 am

    In Cincinnati, it will be something like 89% of the sun covered. I think that will be impressive enough and there is a certain luxury in only having to stroll into the front yard.

    There is a total eclipse in seven years a little north of here, for that one I’ll travel.

  49. 49.

    Peale

    August 5, 2017 at 7:33 am

    I will be flying to Omaha and driving to Grand Island, NE.

  50. 50.

    Baud

    August 5, 2017 at 7:33 am

    @Fester Addams: That does sound neat. Makes one appreciate how pre-science people invented their myths.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    August 5, 2017 at 7:34 am

    @schrodingers_cat: I don’t recall one. The news I heard was that it was DoA in Congress.

  52. 52.

    Raven

    August 5, 2017 at 7:35 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Here is the Charleston ecliplse page

    http://charlestonmag.com/eclipse/

  53. 53.

    NotMax

    August 5, 2017 at 7:37 am

    @A Ghost to Most

    Auroras are awesome.

    Have been under or nearby enough for at least 3 eclipses, but only one aurora event overhead (while in the Poconos; a rare occurrence there).

  54. 54.

    Ohio Mom

    August 5, 2017 at 7:40 am

    Does everyone know you are supposed to tuck your head down and look at the ground when putting your glasses on / taking them off?

    Keeping your head up and looking at the sun while moving your glasses on and off sorta totally defeats the purpose of having them, after all.

  55. 55.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 5, 2017 at 7:40 am

    @Baud:

    I put that in my planner quite some time ago. I’m an optimist.

  56. 56.

    Kay

    August 5, 2017 at 7:42 am

    Thank you for that tool, AL. 83% of the sun obscured is amazing. Now I have to get glasses.

  57. 57.

    bystander

    August 5, 2017 at 7:43 am

    @Baud:

    @oldster: Two celestial events on my bucket list are an eclipse and an Aurora Borealis.

    I’m hoping to see a comet strike the Bedminster Golf Club.

  58. 58.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    August 5, 2017 at 7:43 am

    @NotMax: Have a standing invitation from my Finnish sister-in-law to come see them sometime when they’re back in the old hometown above the Arctic Circle. Maybe it’s time to finally do that. It’s been on my bucket list for years. Auroras, midnight sun, reindeer.

  59. 59.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 5, 2017 at 7:44 am

    @NotMax:

    How soon after totality will it take for Dolt 45 to tweet credit for bringing back the Sun?

    Do you think he’s ever read A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court?

  60. 60.

    Viva BrisVegas

    August 5, 2017 at 7:45 am

    @Betty Cracker: That’s a pity because its not the same thing. An 80% partial eclipse is not 80% as good as a total eclipse. Basically it’s the difference between Also Spake Zarathustra and Mary Had a Little Lamb.

    In a total eclipse the dark closes over the earth and a black hole opens in the sky surrounded by a burning halo. It’s the sort of thing that makes you want to go out and raise your own Stonehenge and start sacrificing virgins.

    In a partial eclipse nothing much happens.

    I’ve seen two of these things, one in Hawaii and one in Cairns and I’d crawl over broken glass to see another one.

    It’s a shame you’ll miss it.

  61. 61.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 5, 2017 at 7:46 am

    @Baud: That may be true for now, but for how long? The more reactionary Rs get, the more the possibility of some of the provisions outlined therein becoming law. Also, T is trying to demagogue this issue and their lies about immigrants need to be countered. ICE is already deporting college bound, scholarship winning athletes.Immigrant ==criminal or moocher is CW at least in wingnut circles.

  62. 62.

    A Ghost to Most

    August 5, 2017 at 7:46 am

    @Peale: we would have to drive a couple hours north to Wheatland, Wyoming, to catch totality. I imagine the traffic in that tiny town will overwhelm it.

  63. 63.

    HinTN

    August 5, 2017 at 7:46 am

    Glasses, check. Reservations, check. Even though we’ll get 95% right here at the house and could drive fifty miles and be on centerline of totality, we’re off to Riverton, WY, because there’s less chance of clouds there. Tom Levenson knows why I’m worried.

  64. 64.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 5, 2017 at 7:47 am

    During my season in Canada I was fortunate to see several auroras. In fact IIRC there was a 2 week period in late Sept/early Oct where we had one every night, or at least when the weather allowed.

  65. 65.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 5, 2017 at 7:47 am

    @Kay: Do you have old photographic film? That works as a good filter.

  66. 66.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    August 5, 2017 at 7:48 am

    @Fester Addams: That shadow is why I want to see it from a beach. I’ve been told that you can see the diffraction effects of the edge of the shadow; alternate light and dark bands.

  67. 67.

    NotMax

    August 5, 2017 at 7:50 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym

    And Lapp dances. :)

    Depending on the time of year (and as you have a place to stay), might consider a visit to gawk at an ice hotel while there.

  68. 68.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 5, 2017 at 7:51 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    Auroras, midnight sun,

    Ya know those would require 2 separate trips, doncha? ;-)

  69. 69.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 5, 2017 at 7:51 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I remember some spectacular auroras in the Qu’Appelle Valley of Saskatchewan. Probably summer of 1957 or ’58 if memory serves.

  70. 70.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 5, 2017 at 7:53 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: I don’t think he’s ever read.

  71. 71.

    Betty Cracker

    August 5, 2017 at 7:55 am

    @Viva BrisVegas: Sounds awesome!

    @schrodingers_cat: I follow Fox News on Twitter just to get a flavor of the lies they’re pushing since either the Trumpanzees are coordinating with Fox and/or Fox is sending not-so-subliminal messages to Trump to drive policy. Immigrant demonization is what’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  72. 72.

    cmorenc

    August 5, 2017 at 7:56 am

    @oldster:

    Why are people going so ga-ga over this event? Why are 50,000 people going to descend on Glendo, or anywhere else in the totality area, for a 3-minute light-show?

    If you had ever seen a total solar eclipse (from within the path of totality) you would totally understand – it’s easily the most awesome, beautiful natural spectacle there is viewable from Earth. Think: Grand Canyon taken to the 10th power combined with really good sex. No video of a solar eclipse comes even remotely close to capturing what witnessing one in person is like. I saw a total solar eclipse in 1970, and the spectacle is forever vividly burned in my mind.

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    August 5, 2017 at 7:56 am

    @SiubhanDuinne

    At this point I posit that his reading ceased with “Run, Spot, run.”

  74. 74.

    OldDave

    August 5, 2017 at 7:56 am

    I’ve read the following viewing tip: pick a location with a good view to the west – just before totality you can see the edge of the shadow racing toward you at supersonic speed. And at the end of totality the return of light.

    I can’t imagine living within 75 miles of the path of totality and not driving to be under the path. It’s pretty much a once in a lifetime event.

  75. 75.

    Booger

    August 5, 2017 at 7:57 am

    @p.a.: That’s because time travelling hadn’t been invented yet back then.

  76. 76.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 5, 2017 at 7:58 am

    @NotMax:

    And Lapp dances. :)

    Yoiks!

  77. 77.

    NotMax

    August 5, 2017 at 7:58 am

    @Betty Cracker

    The other other “white meat.”

  78. 78.

    Booger

    August 5, 2017 at 7:59 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Supposedly not true.

  79. 79.

    debbie

    August 5, 2017 at 7:59 am

    @M. Bouffant:

    I was living in NYC when the 1979 total eclipse occurred. People crowded around parked cars and watched the eclipse reflected off the windshields. Very cool.

  80. 80.

    HinTN

    August 5, 2017 at 7:59 am

    @Raven: You should not be able to see anything but the sun through them. Put them on and look at the sun today. It should be an orange ball. If so, they’re good.

  81. 81.

    OldDave

    August 5, 2017 at 8:01 am

    @OldDave: And FYWP – I can’t edit my own comment within the allotted time. Oh well. I see that Fester Addams had already mentioned the approaching shadow tip at 44.

  82. 82.

    Booger

    August 5, 2017 at 8:02 am

    #14 Welders glass can still be found at welding supply houses/gas suppliers and are dirt cheap, like under $2. But going fast. Helpful hint: Welding goggles are great for when you’re out shovelling snow in the bright sun.

  83. 83.

    Viva BrisVegas

    August 5, 2017 at 8:02 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Immigrant demonization is what’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

    Would that include elderly Australian immigrants?

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    I’ve been told that you can see the diffraction effects of the edge of the shadow; alternate light and dark bands.

    If you are looking for diffraction effects you aren’t looking at the eclipse. Look at the eclipse.

    For anybody undecided on seeing the eclipse I can’t emphasise this enough, get off your lazy arses and go see it. If you have already seen one, you’ll know what I mean. If you haven’t, you will after you’ve seen it.

    Also, you don’t need special glasses. Except for the very last few seconds of sunlight when you get Bailey’s beads, nothing much is happening up there. It’s the totality that matters and you don’t need glasses for that. In fact it’s probably better not to be looking at anything bright before the totality, as it wrecks your night sight.

  84. 84.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    August 5, 2017 at 8:03 am

    Here in Central Misery, we’re perfectly placed for totality. Good thing we own a 7 room B&B. We put together a 2 day package deal and yes, we significantly raised our rates, but are giving away a customized champagne glass. My wife, the physicist who runs a B&B, will be giving a presentation on the science of eclipses while I, the history major, will talk about eclipses thru history.

    We have a 4″ telescope with a solar filter as well.

    We filled up in about 2 months. Now the phone is literally ringing off the hook as people call for a room.

    15 people plus the two of us.

  85. 85.

    debbie

    August 5, 2017 at 8:04 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    An aurora is something I’d really like to see. There was a photo about a week ago that showed an aurora from the Space Station. Yowsa!

  86. 86.

    Baud

    August 5, 2017 at 8:06 am

    @schrodingers_cat: Need to stay vigilant, but T is heading in a negative direction.

  87. 87.

    OldDave

    August 5, 2017 at 8:07 am

    One other comment – do not make the mistake of thinking you can put on viewing glasses and then look through binoculars, which could happily amplify the intensity of the sunlight, burn a hole in the filter and shortly afterwards your eyes. You want filters on the objectives (front) of the binoculars or telescopes. I wouldn’t dare try using photo negatives. You want something that will block not only visible but IR and UV radiation. Welding goggles would probably work – arc welding generates a lot of UV and the goggles have to shield that.

  88. 88.

    HinTN

    August 5, 2017 at 8:07 am

    @Viva BrisVegas:

    For anybody undecided on seeing the eclipse I can’t emphasise this enough, get off your lazy arses and go see it. If you have already seen one, you’ll know what I mean. If you haven’t, you will after you’ve seen it.

    THIS

  89. 89.

    NotMax

    August 5, 2017 at 8:07 am

    @debbie

    NASA time lapse video.

  90. 90.

    bemused

    August 5, 2017 at 8:10 am

    Open thread so smh at how utterly stupid Fox deviants are. At Raw Story, Eric Bolling caught sending unsolicited pics of his junk to female colleagues at Fox News and Fox Business. I guess Eric thought he was a special exception.

  91. 91.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    August 5, 2017 at 8:10 am

    l live just outside the path of totality, so I’ll be driving up the day before. I’ve been preparing to photograph this for a while — I’m using my crop sensor DSLR, my 150-600mm lens, and the solar filter I’m so glad I bought a couple of months back before they became impossible to find. I took a few practice shots last weekend thinking I was just going to dial in the settings and practice removing/replacing the filter, and it turns out my tripod is too flimsy to handle it. I asked around at my photography club, and one person offered to lend me hers — and it’s no better than mine. So now I have to spend money on a sturdier tripod.

    Stupid eclipse.

  92. 92.

    Baud

    August 5, 2017 at 8:11 am

    @HinTN: I’d consider it if clear skies were guaranteed. But that’s impossible to do.

  93. 93.

    Baud

    August 5, 2017 at 8:12 am

    @bemused: Maybe the problem is he’s not an exception over there.

  94. 94.

    debbie

    August 5, 2017 at 8:13 am

    @NotMax:

    Amazing. This is the photo I saw. I think it’s a more recent sighting, but seeing it in motion, along with thunderstorms, is awesome!

  95. 95.

    Viva BrisVegas

    August 5, 2017 at 8:13 am

    @Baud: Go. Just go.

  96. 96.

    Elmo

    August 5, 2017 at 8:15 am

    My old house in Tennessee is in the path. I sold it in 2013, so I think it’s out as a viewing station.

  97. 97.

    cope

    August 5, 2017 at 8:16 am

    I’ve been an ardent sky gazer for over 60 years and this is an event I have been waiting for for at least 15 years (that’s when I realized that I might actually live long enough to see it). I taught and prepared all my science students for it since then as well. Being in Florida, totality is not an option and weather is likely to uncooperative.

    I always told my students I wanted to go to Wyoming for the eclipse and, dadgum it, that’s what I am going to do. Now that I’m retired, I don’t have to worry about taking time off from work. I fly to Denver on 8/17 where one of my sisters and her hubby (one of my closest friends) will pick me up. We’ll be camping at the Lyons Folk Festival (yea Loudon Wainwright) and then driving up to the Riverton area on Sunday for more camping (on a friend’s private property). After the eclipse, we are going to camp our way around Wyoming for the rest of the week (expect pictures). After that, on to Grand Junction where all my family is…this is gonna be great.

    Last school year, before I retired, I bought 100 pair of certified eclipse glasses hoping to sell enough of them to my students to break even. Strangely, about half the kids who said they wanted a pair crapped out on me leaving me with about 70 extra pair. I have been mailing the extras to friends and family and still have about 10 pair to take out west with me. I cut up a pair to use the two pieces of solar filter material to make filters for my camera and cell phone. Again, expect pictures.

    Finally, truly safe eclipse glasses are marked with a logo of the earth with ISO printed on it. They should also have a statement about meeting the ISO requirement.

    I have seen several partial eclipses but never experienced totality. I don’t have much of a bucket list but this is one of the few things on it.

  98. 98.

    Immanentize

    August 5, 2017 at 8:17 am

    @Raven: @OzarkHillbilly:
    In the 1970 near total eclipse I was in in Upstate New York, we learned how to make eclipse viewers from 35 mm film stock. In school!

    No one went blind. It was over in just a few minutes. I don’t think the sun has really changed all that much since then. But marketing sure has.

  99. 99.

    father pussbucket

    August 5, 2017 at 8:18 am

    If you have any doubt that this is worth some effort to see, read Annie Dillard’s account of the 1979 eclipse. Actually, read it in any case.

  100. 100.

    oldgold

    August 5, 2017 at 8:19 am

    During the last total eclipse, as a teenage boy, I looked. Wasn’t worried about going blind. I already knew my fate was sealed in terms of going blind for other reasons.

    Did not go blind for either of those actions, but did develop carpal tunnel syndrome.

  101. 101.

    drj

    August 5, 2017 at 8:21 am

    @oldster:

    I’ve been around the world a bit and a solar eclipse is the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen.

    Don’t miss it if you have a reasonable chance to see it.

  102. 102.

    Hafabee

    August 5, 2017 at 8:21 am

    @Catherine D.: This map confirms your memory. This and more maps here.

  103. 103.

    Viva BrisVegas

    August 5, 2017 at 8:21 am

    @cope:

    Again, expect pictures.

    The main problem with taking pictures is that it distracts you from the eclipse.

    It’s the experience that’s the thing and you really need to be giving it your whole attention or you risk letting it pass you by. You only have a few minutes at totality so I would recommend letting someone else take the pictures and you take in the scene.

  104. 104.

    NotMax

    August 5, 2017 at 8:21 am

    Kind of surprised no one has linked to Pink Floyd.
    ‘
    Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun

  105. 105.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    August 5, 2017 at 8:22 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: I’ll be at Tallulah Gorge — they’re allowing people to view it from their helicopter landing field. I got a room in the area for the night before so I wouldn’t be stuck in traffic. Just hoping the weather cooperates.

  106. 106.

    bemused

    August 5, 2017 at 8:24 am

    @Baud:

    You are correct, sir. Although, he does appear to have thought he would not get caught.

  107. 107.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 5, 2017 at 8:31 am

    @Booger: I have used film to see the eclipse before, it works.
    @Immanentize: Indeed, I remember using film myself as wee lass in the mid 80s.
    In grad lab, to look at the sun through a telescope we used to cover the lens with a mylar filter (the blankets they give marathoners after they finish the marathon to wrap themselves with)

  108. 108.

    cope

    August 5, 2017 at 8:32 am

    @Viva BrisVegas:

    Yes, you are completely correct. In all my years of photography and astrophotography, I have taught myself to turn off my photographer mode and just experience these things first hand for at least half the time they are happening.

    I really woke up to that when my daughter was on the flag team in high school and we had driven to BFE for a competition. She was doing a solo event and I was videotaping it when I realized that looking through the flipping viewfinder, I was actually missing her performance. I wised up and put the camera down and just soaked in what she had worked on for so many hours and hours.

  109. 109.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 5, 2017 at 8:34 am

    @Betty Cracker: You should address it on Balloon Juice then, in your inimitable style with your trademark humor, sometime.

    ETA: Complete with an illustration of the sad little Jewish Nazi wannabe, Miller.

  110. 110.

    Betty Cracker

    August 5, 2017 at 8:35 am

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: I love that area. When I was a kid, we always stopped at the little store at the falls overlook on our way to visit relatives in NC. My siblings and I kept up the tradition and introduced the next generation to the joys of wearing faux coonskin caps while sipping RCs and eating Moon Pies. Have fun!

  111. 111.

    germy

    August 5, 2017 at 8:36 am

    @bemused:

    Eric Bolling caught sending unsolicited pics of his junk to female colleagues at Fox News and Fox Business.

    According to humorists on twitter, every photo of Eric is a dick pic.

  112. 112.

    Lapassionara

    August 5, 2017 at 8:36 am

    @father pussbucket: This! Great essay.

  113. 113.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 5, 2017 at 8:41 am

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:

    I can’t wait to see your pictures!

  114. 114.

    Yarrow

    August 5, 2017 at 8:43 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    There was a total solar eclipse in March 1970 whose path crossed Florida and then hugged the entire eastern seaboard of the US. It was much-hyped — “Darkness at Noon” was a popular media sobriquet — but there was so much cloud cover that it turned out to be a bust in a lot of places, so that was disappointing after a great deal of buildup and anticipation.

    That’s the one in Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain”:

    Then you flew your Learjet up to Nova Scotia
    To see the total eclipse of the sun

    That line always stuck out for me. There just aren’t that many total solar eclipses, especially ones that could be viewed in Nova Scotia. It really places the song.

  115. 115.

    debbie

    August 5, 2017 at 8:43 am

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Complete with an illustration of the sad little Jewish Nazi wannabe, Miller.

    I don’t think it’s possible to convey the total hatefulness of that man through art.

  116. 116.

    Betty Cracker

    August 5, 2017 at 8:45 am

    @schrodingers_cat: I’ve posted about the issue here before (example), but TBH, I find it difficult to write about because it makes me so angry. I won’t go into detail about why, but it’s personal to me; it affects loved ones. It’s hard to find the distance necessary to write about it.

  117. 117.

    Kay

    August 5, 2017 at 8:45 am

    @bemused:

    Fox News host Eric Bolling reportedly sent unsolicited lewd photos to female co-workers several years ago via text message, according to The Huffington Post.
    “We were just informed of this late Friday afternoon via a Huffington Post inquiry and plan to investigate the matter,” a Fox News spokesperson told The Hill.
    A dozen sources told Huffington Post that at least two of Bolling’s female colleagues at Fox Business and one at Fox News received the photos of male genitalia from Bolling.

    FOX is an absolute sewer. Do they deliberately hire creepy people, or what?

  118. 118.

    rikyrah

    August 5, 2017 at 8:46 am

    @cope:
    Have a safe trip?

  119. 119.

    rikyrah

    August 5, 2017 at 8:47 am

    @Kay:
    Like attracts like ??

  120. 120.

    bemused

    August 5, 2017 at 8:48 am

    @germy:

    Ha, thx for the laugh.

  121. 121.

    Caphilldcne

    August 5, 2017 at 8:51 am

    Driving from D.C. On 20th to Roanoke then getting up as early as we can stand (4 am?) to drive to Smoky Mountain National park or small town nearby in the totality. Staying that night in pigeon forge and then back to D.C. Worth it!

  122. 122.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 5, 2017 at 8:51 am

    @Betty Cracker: {{ }} that’s been my problem too. In fact I haven’t written much on my blog or otherwise, since the election. I need to start writing again. I am afraid of the emotions that will be unleashed if I give them an outlet.

  123. 123.

    Kay

    August 5, 2017 at 8:53 am

    @rikyrah:

    I’m wondering about these leak investigations too. The leaks seem to be coming from pretty high up. What if it turns out the leakers are people Trump hired? He surrounds himself with liars. Maybe they loathe him and just feign loyalty. For all I know it could be Kushner. Who knows what kind of back-biting and clawing to the top goes on in Trumpworld. This could be an internal coup.

  124. 124.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    August 5, 2017 at 8:53 am

    @Raven: Some of those locations aren’t very open. I love visiting the Circular Church’s graveyard, but I can’t visualize an eclipse viewing party there.

    I’d love to be at the one on the Yorktown, though.

  125. 125.

    arrieve

    August 5, 2017 at 8:55 am

    @cope: Me too.

    I’m flying to western Oregon for a trip sponsored by my university, which sold out over a year ago. They just told us we’re leaving the hotel at 2:30 in the morning because there’s going to be so much traffic. I hope there won’t be smog from wildfires, but honestly I don’t care. I’ve wanted to experience a total eclipse for as long as I can remember. Welding goggles are apparently the way to go btw. That’s what they’re giving us.

  126. 126.

    bemused

    August 5, 2017 at 8:59 am

    @Kay:

    No kidding, right?!

    I

  127. 127.

    bemused

    August 5, 2017 at 9:00 am

    @rikyrah:

    Penies in a pod.

  128. 128.

    frosty

    August 5, 2017 at 9:03 am

    We were planning a Road Trip to Mammoth Cave this summer when I learned about the eclipse, so I booked a campsite in a park outside of Nashville that weekend. Getting there 2 days early so we’ll miss the traffic, the trailer will have food, water, and a toilet, so that’s covered. If it’s cloudy, so be it. I don’t think I want to try to get somewhere else during Peak Craziness.

  129. 129.

    A Ghost to Most

    August 5, 2017 at 9:05 am

    @debbie:
    Did you know there is a particular aurora named Steve?

  130. 130.

    KarenH

    August 5, 2017 at 9:05 am

    I’m driving from San Antonio to Plymouth, Nebraska, which is very near the center of totality. We’ll stay with husband’s sister and visit other family while there.

  131. 131.

    Phylllis

    August 5, 2017 at 9:06 am

    We’re in the path of totality & will be in school that day–one of the few districts in South Carolina opting to be in session. Planning a district-wide viewing party. We were fortunate to get a generous donation that allowed us to purchase enough glasses for the kids, all the employees, with enough left over to outfit at least 25% of the town as well.

  132. 132.

    Kay

    August 5, 2017 at 9:08 am

    This is interesting:

    Party loyalty is often cited as the reason that GOP leaders have not been more outspoken in their criticism of President Donald Trump and his refusal to condemn Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Yet there may be another reason that top Republicans have not been more vocal in their condemnation. Perhaps it’s because they have their own links to the Russian oligarchy that they would prefer go unnoticed.
    Donald Trump and the political action committees for Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich and John McCain accepted $7.35 million in contributions from a Ukrainian-born oligarch who is the business partner of two of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s favorite oligarchs and a Russian government bank.

    Mitch McConnell was the top recipient of Blavatnik’s donations, collecting $2.5 million for his GOP Senate Leadership Fund under the names of two of Blavatnik’s holding companies, Access Industries and AI Altep Holdings, according to Federal Election Commission documents and OpenSecrets.org.

    I haven’t seen any discussion of why the Russian government interfered in congressional elections. That they did makes me think they weren’t just interested in getting Trump elected- they also needed/wanted a GOP Congress.

    I’m just not satisfied by what I’ve read on WHY they wanted these people elected. I don’t believe it was just “sow general unrest” or “lift sanctions”. How does the far Right align with Putin outside of sanctions? What broad POLICY direction does he want?

    Comey said they “hate” Hillary Clinton but that doesn’t explain the congressional election interference.

  133. 133.

    Elizabelle

    August 5, 2017 at 9:12 am

    @Bobby Thomson:

    Saw the title and thought this would be about tourists choosing not to visit the US

    Exactly what I thought.

    Now you guys have got me excited about traveling to the path of the eclipse. And I just bought a little camping tent, this very week.

    Is it true that welding glasses would work for viewing the eclipse?

  134. 134.

    Elizabelle

    August 5, 2017 at 9:14 am

    @frosty: I think some of my friends are headed to Mammoth Cave, for the eclipse. I love Mammoth National Park. Gorgeous night skies too.

  135. 135.

    BC in Illinois

    August 5, 2017 at 9:15 am

    @NotMax:

    Gee, if science is right about this then perhaps they’re on the beam with some other predictions too. Although wouldn’t be shocked to find out there exist eclipse denial groups.

    They prefer the term “eclipse skeptics.” They simply haven’t been convinced by the so-called “experts,” whose careers depend on repeating the politically correct line. There actually isn’t a “consensus,” as some claim, that the moon will over-shadow the sun, and it is total arrogance to claim that this “eclipse” (as they’re calling it now–I can remember a time when they were talking about the eclipse of the MOON, the shadow of the earth supposedly blocking out the light of the moon . . . Why isn’t anyone talking about THAT anymore?) . . . anyway it’s arrogance the claim that scientists on earth can accurately tell you where the moon will be later in August. Scientists have been wrong before. We need more study. Who’s funding these so-called experts, anyway? And, when it comes down to it, there’s nothing we can do about the eclipse anyway. (A perfectly natural phenomenon, by the way. It’s happened before. You just beat on the drums and it goes away.)

  136. 136.

    Kay

    August 5, 2017 at 9:16 am

    I mentioned here the other day that the CEO of the local hospital wants to hold a fundraiser for one of the Dem candidates for Ohio governor. I was surprised by this because this is a small town and I know he has held fundraisers for Republicans in the past.

    So we did a conference call with him- I put him in touch with the county chair and then I listened in to the call and he’s mad about the health care fiasco and that’s why he’s doing it. He really loathes Trump. Made several disparaging comments about him. I didn’t join in because my sense about Republicans who turn on Trump is that Democrats piling on will just make them defensive. This has to be their idea.

  137. 137.

    Yarrow

    August 5, 2017 at 9:18 am

    @Kay: Flip it on its head–the oligarchs own Putin not the other way around–and then ask what oligarchs all around the world want. Probably the freedom to continue oligarching. A Republican Congress would be much more likely to give them that.

    How does the far Right align with Putin outside of sanctions? What broad POLICY direction does he want?

    They both cultivate the Christianists in their countries. They’re both anti-Muslim. The NRA has ties to Russia and they work together to promote gun ownership/sales in both countries.(The Russians want to sell Russian made guns in the US again and the NRA is part of that.) Suppression of women and GLBTQ populations. Removing regulations so that businesses can do what they want.

    I mean, really, what don’t they have in common in a better question.

  138. 138.

    Kay

    August 5, 2017 at 9:23 am

    This is who he likes for Ohio gov. I like her too. She worked really hard in her last race and it was a horrible year for Democrats. If Cordray gets in he;ll be the immediate front runner but I think he really loves that Consumer Financial Protection board so maybe he’s not getting in.

    I suspect she will run as a moderate but I’m basing that on just her temperament- she’s not a yeller. She’s appealing as a person though- I don’t mean to imply she’s wishy washy. She’s just sort of earnest. She’s raised quite a bit of money.

  139. 139.

    Peej01

    August 5, 2017 at 9:28 am

    I’m flying to Omaha and staying with my sister. I’ll drive to wherever it’s not cloudy in the totality zone.

  140. 140.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 5, 2017 at 9:28 am

    @BC in Illinois: Please tell me that this is a joke.

  141. 141.

    BC in Illinois

    August 5, 2017 at 9:28 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    I am in the path of totality here in the St Louis area. I can drive into Illinois, to where I used to live, to pick up a few more seconds of totality, and perhaps a better party. (The wine-country of So Illinois–where Mrs BC and I retreated in January to celebrate our anniversary and avoid inauguration coverage–has even better viewing and possibly better parties.) Traffic will be a real concern.

    Although, along with OH, I predict overcast and scattered showers for the 21st.

  142. 142.

    Kay

    August 5, 2017 at 9:31 am

    @Yarrow:

    I obsess and I’m curious about the anti-immigration push. Because it’s specific. It’s anti CERTAIN immigrants. There’s two parts to immigration- there’s coming HERE and leaving THERE. So is it possible that moneyed interests don’t so much want certain immigrants NOT to come here but instead have some interest in them staying in their home countries?

    If you look at the labor market as worldwide and you accept that they want to keep wages low then they wouldn’t want labor moving to higher wage countries, right? Because that would tend to put upward pressure on wages in the countries from whence they came. Maybe it’s the opposite of “nationalism”. Maybe it’s an attempt to control world labor markets. Allow the competition that the ability to move creates for certain classes of workers but not others.

    There’s the political benefit of demonizing certain immigrants, sure, absolutely, but maybe there’s a substantive oligarch benefit to managing international labor markets- the movement of people.

  143. 143.

    Spanky

    August 5, 2017 at 9:34 am

    @Elizabelle:

    Is it true that welding glasses would work for viewing the eclipse?

    Yes, as long as they’re the ones for arc welding, #10 or more. Though to be honest, there’s (IMO) not much interesting going on during the partial phase, when the glasses are needed.

    The Mrs & I are flying to Denver, then driving back east to North Platte, NE, where I booked a room back in January at the regular rate. (Maybe I’d better check to make sure they didn’t overbook it at a higher rate?)

    Then driving the 30 or so miles north to either Tryon or Stapleton, both fairly along the centerline. North Platte (pop 24K) expects a hundred thousand or so. I picked NE in the hopes there’d be less people, and maybe that is still the case, comparatively.

    Those two little towns are doing their best to monetize this spectacle, and more power to them. They’ll never see such a wave of people come crashing through again.

  144. 144.

    CarolDuhart2

    August 5, 2017 at 9:34 am

    @Ohio Mom: Actually,I used an online calculator, and we get 91% in Cincinnati, better than I thought. I can’t take off for the afternoon, though-but maybe I can go out during break to take a little part in all of the excitement.

  145. 145.

    BC in Illinois

    August 5, 2017 at 9:34 am

    @schrodingers_cat:
    What surprised me was how easy it was to churn this out, once I got started.

    It did give me an idea though. The extended family has enough hand drums, bodhrans, djembes, rain sticks, and the like that we may form a drum circle for the event. The grandkids will love it.

  146. 146.

    Cain

    August 5, 2017 at 9:35 am

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    Here on Oregon everything was booked up for months and all the camping grounds are all booked. It is nuts. I will just watch it from my house or walk to the nature park less than a mile from me.

  147. 147.

    The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion

    August 5, 2017 at 9:35 am

    We’ll be dead center of the totality. The middle school I’m working at this year will be closed, because we’re expecting thousands.

  148. 148.

    Spanky

    August 5, 2017 at 9:36 am

    @BC in Illinois: Every month the moon appears as a crescent, grows to full, and wanes. You can’t explain that.

  149. 149.

    Cain

    August 5, 2017 at 9:36 am

    @Ohio Mom:
    I have been told to have a pool of water and look at it that way.

  150. 150.

    Spanky

    August 5, 2017 at 9:38 am

    @Spanky: Oh yeah, and NE because of a better chance of clear skies, and I didn’t like the logistics of getting to Eastern OR.

  151. 151.

    Mike J

    August 5, 2017 at 9:40 am

    When making your sacrifice to the moon god, is it proper to use a serrated knife?

  152. 152.

    Hafabee

    August 5, 2017 at 9:41 am

    @Baud: We saw the northern lights here in eastern West Virginia in 2001.

  153. 153.

    Elizabelle

    August 5, 2017 at 9:42 am

    @Spanky: Thank you.

    I might end up pitching that tent on someone’s land, or in a parking lot, at this rate. Hmmm.

  154. 154.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    August 5, 2017 at 9:44 am

    @Kay: I’ve always wondered if Pence was behind any of it.

  155. 155.

    Kay

    August 5, 2017 at 9:44 am

    NYT: Flynn has now filed 3 versions of his financial-disclosure; newest version lists ~$400K more than past versions

    Boy, the Trumpists sure do have trouble keeping track of their money. They forget they made 400 thousand dollars! How in the hell does this guy have so much money anyway? Wasn’t he supposedly a public employee? Are there a lot of career government people who forget 400k in assets?

  156. 156.

    matryohshka

    August 5, 2017 at 9:49 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: I’m in central Misery, too. Took a day off from work to enjoy the totality and the mobs of people coming to my town. Heard one of MU’s astronomers on NPR yesterday who has been giving educational programs on the eclipse for a year here. Every hotel and B&B here is booked solid and has been for some time.

  157. 157.

    Kay

    August 5, 2017 at 9:49 am

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:

    It would be so typical if Republicans were all benefiting so that’s why they didn’t oppose Trump. Just garden variety capture and corruption. They’re all dirty to one or another extent so everyone’s captured. All the angst and histrionics over “the conservative soul” was bullshit- they have their hand in the oligarch cookie jar too.

  158. 158.

    Michael Bersin

    August 5, 2017 at 9:56 am

    My house is approximately two miles southwest of the edge of totality. The NASA interactive map shows obscuration at 99.97%. At this point I’m checking camera exposure guides for photographing the corona during totality (if I can get to a point in the zone) and have contemplated finding a couple of pieces of cardboard and a pin somewhere around the house.

    I’m still waiting to hear if the University is going to give up on classes for the day. The town is at the intersection of a U.S. Highway running east/west and a two lane state highway running north/south. I’m anticipating an epic traffic jam with the inevitable accompanying monumental assholery.

    And, of course, a lot depends on the predicted weather and cloud cover. The spouse tells me there’s no way we’re driving hundreds of miles for clear skies. I actually agreed.

  159. 159.

    GregB

    August 5, 2017 at 9:59 am

    @Spanky:

    Tide goes in, tide goes out.

  160. 160.

    schrodingers_cat

    August 5, 2017 at 10:01 am

    @GregB: I know why! Magnets!!!
    /snark

  161. 161.

    debbie

    August 5, 2017 at 10:01 am

    @A Ghost to Most:

    Is he a friendly aurora?

  162. 162.

    Booger

    August 5, 2017 at 10:02 am

    @Elizabelle: A cave might just an extreme form of eye protection, though. It’s not THAT dangerous…

  163. 163.

    Elizabelle

    August 5, 2017 at 10:05 am

    @Booger: LOL. Truly. Duck and cover.

    I shall be buying some welding glasses today. Who knew?

  164. 164.

    tybee

    August 5, 2017 at 10:07 am

    @Mike J: only if you need to cut through bone

  165. 165.

    BruceFromOhio

    August 5, 2017 at 10:08 am

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: holy moly that is excellent, your guests are going to leave with memory of a great experience, and more knowledgeable to boot. Nicely done!

  166. 166.

    HinTN

    August 5, 2017 at 10:09 am

    @cope: For lack of a better plan, we’re going with lawn chairs in the parking lot if the Hampton Inn north of Riverton on the road to Shoshone. We’re arriving Sunday afternoon. Possible BJ meetup? I’m the tall old fart with the white hair.

  167. 167.

    Ohio Mom

    August 5, 2017 at 10:09 am

    @Kay: Connie was our state rep. She *is* earnest, a hard worker, and very methodical. When she announces she’s going to knock on doors, she knocks on every door. No short cuts for her.

    She served in I don’t remember what branch of the military, and that makes her a less scary Democrat to conservatives.

    IIRC, she would have run for Congress (we are old Mean Jean Schmidt’s district) but somehow (sarcasm) the lines were redrawn around her house — which is in Montgomery, a far eastern suburb of Cincinnati — putting her in the First District.

    That’s the West Side’s district, and they have a very deeply rooted Congressman, he’d be next to impossible to unseat.

    (Once upon a time, the Cincinnati area was all the same Congressional district and we sent a Democrat to Washington. Then the Republicans on Columbus split us in two, attached each half to very Red rural areas, and now we send two Republicans to DC.)

  168. 168.

    Onkel Fritze

    August 5, 2017 at 10:10 am

    Seeing an eclipse is seriously on my bucket list and I’ve settled on this one to see it. Going to be flying into Chicago on the 18th (I live in Colombia in my wife’s country, but I’m German). From there I’ll be traveling with a rental car. Currently I have my sights set on a place called Beatrice, Nebraska. After I picked it I found out that Bill Nye is supposed to be there with a big NASA show. All depends on the weather though.

    Couldn’t find a room within the zone for the night before, closest they had was in Omaha, but that’s only about a 2 hour drive. After the eclipse we’ll be visiting friends in Michigan.

  169. 169.

    Spanky

    August 5, 2017 at 10:11 am

    @Elizabelle: Eclipse glasses are actually cheaper, especially if you have Amazon prime. But also too, it turns out our local Walmart here in Maryland has them in the photo dept. for a buck. Check locally first. Two weeks is still plenty of time.

  170. 170.

    HinTN

    August 5, 2017 at 10:14 am

    @Viva BrisVegas:

    You only have a few minutes at totality …

    Two or fewer.

    I plan to enjoy the 2:15 we’ll get at Riverton with no distracting plan other than to be fucking awestruck.

  171. 171.

    Elizabelle

    August 5, 2017 at 10:21 am

    @Spanky: Thank you.

    Because I’m less sure I will be doing any welding this year. Although 2017 is still young …

  172. 172.

    Parfigliano

    August 5, 2017 at 10:22 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: i told my mom who lives inRC SD I would be there in Aug…..gonna be in Lusk WY 8/21…it is an event

  173. 173.

    arielibra

    August 5, 2017 at 10:23 am

    @Kay:

    Comey said they “hate” Hillary Clinton but that doesn’t explain the congressional election interference.

    It does if they, like everyone else, figured the election of Trump was a near-impossible outcome. Putting plenty of roadblocks in the way of Hillary’s agenda was the fallback plan.
    (That doesn’t address the policy motivation, which is fascinating To speculate on. Your global labor market hypothesis doesn’t seem too far fetched to me, especially once you add in weakening of human rights efforts and watchdog groups.)

  174. 174.

    Ohio Mom

    August 5, 2017 at 10:24 am

    @CarolDuhart2: You are right, I got 90.7%. Must have made a typo the first time I used that calculator.

    I went to the Observatory in Hyde Park yesterday and picked up four paper eclipse glasses, which is all they let you buy at a time. They did have welding glass earlier but they ran out of it. I liked the idea I was supporting them instead of Amazon. Although they probably bought theirs via Amazon.

  175. 175.

    KarenH

    August 5, 2017 at 10:30 am

    @Onkel Fritze: I’ll be in Plymouth, about 15 miles from Beatrice. While the programs they’re putting on in Beatrice and at the Homestead site sound interesting, I think I’ll not venture into the traffic to get there.

  176. 176.

    Onkel Fritze

    August 5, 2017 at 10:34 am

    @KarenH: I’ll just see how it goes. If it’s too much, I’ll be happy just to park in the middle of nowhere and watch from there.

  177. 177.

    A Ghost to Most

    August 5, 2017 at 10:40 am

    @debbie:

    aurora Steve

  178. 178.

    debbie

    August 5, 2017 at 10:40 am

    @Kay:

    NPR interviewed a TN representative this morning who had voted against the sanctions. He bent himself over into a pretzel trying not to badmouth either Trump or Russia. It was beyond pitiful.

  179. 179.

    Suzanne

    August 5, 2017 at 10:44 am

    It’s the first day of high school for Spawn the Elder, and I’ll be in a meeting. It’ll be another horribly bright Phoenix day, I’m sure. God, I hate sun. It’s the worst.

  180. 180.

    frosty

    August 5, 2017 at 10:45 am

    @Booger: I thought about it … I bet the cave tours won’t be crowded that day.

  181. 181.

    A Ghost to Most

    August 5, 2017 at 10:48 am

    @Onkel Fritze:
    There’s a hell of a lot of middle of nowhere there.

  182. 182.

    tobie

    August 5, 2017 at 10:51 am

    @Catherine D.: My birthday is March 7, too! Hello, fellow Pisces.

  183. 183.

    Doug R

    August 5, 2017 at 10:52 am

    @Keith P.: At least your raccoons are friendly. Ours have gang fights.
    As for the eclipse, I remember one in February 1979. The weather was lousy and we were outside totality. Since it was a school day, no way Dad was taking us to Portland, especially with typical Pacific Northwest weather in February.
    We were thinking of getting our passports renewed for this one, but the “election” of the mango menace made us vow not to set foot in the USA until he’s gone one way or another. 2018 cannot happen fast enough.

  184. 184.

    A Ghost to Most

    August 5, 2017 at 10:55 am

    @Doug R:
    Wise. “These are dark and dangerous times …”

  185. 185.

    Villago Delenda Est

    August 5, 2017 at 10:57 am

    Gonna have to travel about 35 miles north for totality. It will be worth it.

    The smoke has been dissipating in Western Oregon, but the eclipse is two weeks away, no telling what the situation will be like. We’ve been experiencing a heat wave as many of you know, and it’s cooling slightly but not by much, 90F temps forecast for the next week.

  186. 186.

    Villago Delenda Est

    August 5, 2017 at 10:58 am

    @Doug R: Yeah, I had a midterm that day, and it was cloudy. Track Town was in the 90% totality range, got dark.

  187. 187.

    FlyingToaster

    August 5, 2017 at 11:00 am

    Last spring we seriously considered going out to my old hometown (KCMO) for that weekend and going to the astronomer-hosted event at Rosecrans Field in St. Joe. But the combination of WarriorGirl finishing MOS* camp on Friday before, HerrDoktor’s being a bad traveller, and fucking Missouri** made us reconsider when it came time to book said travel (early May).

    * Boston Museum of Science
    ** While we at Chez Toaster are quite short on melanin, we are collectively the wrong religions. I gave up fighting that in 1979. I’ll go visit my niece/great-niece next April on the normal schedule, when nobody’s looking to give me shit.

  188. 188.

    smintheus

    August 5, 2017 at 11:05 am

    To judge by their voting behavior, many of the people living in the eclipse path are already blind.

  189. 189.

    cope

    August 5, 2017 at 11:05 am

    @HinTN:

    Always a possibility. I’m in the hands of my sister and all I know is we will be camping on private land in the Riverton Area. I am a fat old fart with salt and pepper hair.

  190. 190.

    catclub

    August 5, 2017 at 11:07 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    on permanent vacation

    I think if NPR ever mentioned the words ‘projection’ and “Trump’ they would explode.

    His golfing a huge amount and complaining about Obama are an easy example.

  191. 191.

    Mike in NC

    August 5, 2017 at 11:10 am

    Couldn’t care less about the eclipse but can’t wait to get my hands on the Lazy Boy issue of Newsweek. Might have to frame it.

  192. 192.

    Quinerly

    August 5, 2017 at 11:24 am

    Full path here in St. Louis. Full house, plus a birthday party. Poco ordered his glasses for him and kitties Ivan and John Lennon. I guess I’m on my own.?????

  193. 193.

    Fester Addams

    August 5, 2017 at 11:29 am

    @father pussbucket:

    Annie Dillard’s account of the 1979 eclipse.

    Yes! Hers is the name I was trying to remember.

  194. 194.

    Uncle Cosmo

    August 5, 2017 at 11:29 am

    @Viva BrisVegas:

    If you are looking for diffraction effects you aren’t looking at the eclipse. Look at the eclipse.

    You misunderstand. You don’t see the shadow bands in the sky, you see them racing along the ground around around you in the last few (I dunno, maybe 10) seconds before totality as the limb of the moon is covering the last sliver of the solar disk. It’s as if you were at the bottom of a tank of weightless fluid with waves that are distorting the light.

    IOW you watch the shadow bands on the ground – & then it gets super dark, because the eclipse has gone total. Then you look up at where the sun was…

    For anybody undecided on seeing the eclipse I can’t emphasise this enough, get off your lazy arses and go see it. If you have already seen one, you’ll know what I mean. If you haven’t, you will after you’ve seen it.

    Cosign. I saw the 7 March 1970 eclipse from a deactivated antiaircraft base near Newport News. And 29 years later altered my European travel plans to be in the path of totality for the 11 August 1999 Euroclipse. In Stuttgart. Where it poured rain… =:^(

    Also, you don’t need special glasses. Except for the very last few seconds of sunlight when you get Bailey’s beads [ETA: or the “diamond ring” effect with just one bead] nothing much is happening up there. It’s the totality that matters and you don’t need glasses for that. In fact it’s probably better not to be looking at anything bright before the totality, as it wrecks your night sight.

    What you need is a countdown stopwatch & an accurate value for the length of totality at your location. (Make use of this interactive Google map for the latter. Click on any location & a popup window will tell you start/stop times & duration.) Set the stopwatch for at least 5 seconds less than the length of totality. The onset of totality (“second contact” or C2) will be totally obvious; start the stopwatch then & look up. When it sounds, look away from the sun!

  195. 195.

    Quinerly

    August 5, 2017 at 11:33 am

    @Yarrow:
    I was 9 years old for that one. I recall all the hype. Off from school, the glasses, my yard in NC…..and my parents.

  196. 196.

    HinTN

    August 5, 2017 at 11:42 am

    @cope: We scouted Riverton last October and there’s a nice coffee shop in town. If it don’t look too crazy I may venture there about 0600 to score some cappuccino. I’ll ask a FPer to send you my phone number.

  197. 197.

    david spikes

    August 5, 2017 at 11:45 am

    Hype just hype.
    Total annular eclipse here in Reno in 2012-in Doctor Johnson’s words-“It was worth seeing but not worth going to see.”
    File this under:
    People are strange.
    You need to get out more.
    There’s one born every minute-make that second.

  198. 198.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    August 5, 2017 at 11:48 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: I’m located in the path of totality here in western Oregon. Don’t anticipate any visibility issues. Now that it’s cooled off a little, time to resume stockpiling the essentials and making plans not to drive much at all between 8/18 and 8/24.

  199. 199.

    HinTN

    August 5, 2017 at 11:51 am

    @david spikes: You lost your sense of wonder?

  200. 200.

    J R in WV

    August 5, 2017 at 11:59 am

    We have rooms booked 22 miles away from the path of totality, and plan to get up a crack of dawn and drive into no-where Western KY, quite near the spot on the eclipse path where it last the longest, 2:40 (2 minutes and 40 seconds) during which I hope to take a photo or two, as well as see my first total eclipse.

    We used a pinhole and mud puddles to see the one back in the 50s, it was a rainy day and we were the kids on a family driving vacation. When the sky opened briefly, dad pulled over and we would hold the cardboard to put an image on the side of the car, which was a two-toned white and pale green Studebaker. And since it was rainy, there were omnipresent puddles.

    Since the whole eclipse takes hours, we were stopping briefly all afternoon it seemed.

    Since then the only close eclipse has been a partial one near our newer house, while we were still building it. I was laying hickory flooring I think, and the birds started chirping as if it was dusk. And the shadows and light under the trees changed, what were usually blurred spots were sharper little crescents of the sun’s image, splattered all over the ground under the trees surrounding the new house. This was in the early ’90s. Probably 1993, we moved into the house in spring of 1994.

    I hope the weather cooperates, and that it isn’t too crazed. I don’t deal with crushing crowds well, it tends to make me curse inside.

    I do have a filter for the camera, which has a good night-time setting I’m going to try out before we go. I do have a tripod which I can work with as the eclipse progresses. Binoculars with filters, and multiple pairs of sunglasses. I ordered ones with plastic frames, free cardboard pairs came with, and then more came with all the other filters I ordered, which were expensive. I hope to get to use them again on another eclipse, perhaps somewhere romantically different.

    I think I’ve thought of everything… rooms close to our destination, for the night before and the night after, so we don’t have to deal with long distances the day of the light show. I once saw dimly present bands of colors in the north sky when I was a kid, so seeing real northern lights is an item on the bucket list too.

  201. 201.

    Uncle Cosmo

    August 5, 2017 at 12:09 pm

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: @Caphilldcne: @Villago Delenda Est: Two things of which everyone who wants to view the eclipse should be aware:

    1) At 99.9% totality, it just gets pretty dark in the middle of the day, & then gets brighter again. You need 100% to get the full effect – stars, solar corona – & really understand why this is so special.

    2) But you need for the eclipse to be total for long enough to absorb the experience. IMHO anything less than a solid minute of totality won’t provide that. And this is not a long eclipse (max totality is in Misery, ~2m40s).

    Again, make use of this interactive Google map to assess the duration of totality for your chosen vantage point. Note on that map the shape of the umbra (moon’s shadow) is more or less a circle (duh) & if you’re just inside its path, the total phase may be too bang-bang to appreciate.

    Example: Travel on US 441 south from Gatlinburg TN just into the path & the duration of totalit is 26 seconds. Turn W onto US 321 & drive the extra 7-8 mi to Townsend & the duration is a minute longer. Go another 7-8 mi to Sixmile & it’s 2:02.

    As a rule of thumb, try to get at least 3-4 miles toward the center line from the edge of the path of totality. Otherwise you are cruising for a yoooooooge disappointment & it would be a fucking shame to have gone to all that trouble for very little when a few more miles of driving might make all the difference in the world.

    Good luck & good viewing!

  202. 202.

    J R in WV

    August 5, 2017 at 12:09 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    I did see your reply comments to my comment about the eclipse a bit ago, and thanks for you advice. We’ll be in Owensboro, Ky as dawn breaks, and head south into totality early in the morning. I’m hoping to just pull over at a wide spot on a country road.

    Hoping the weather cooperates. May blow the whole thing off it the forecast is too negative, we’ll see. Though KY is beautiful, I’ve spent lots of time poking around in remote spots trying to collect rocks. I’ll show some of that to the wife, who typically has not attended any of that adventuring. It does get you off the beaten path, though, and into remote rural places.

    Good luck with your weather, also!

  203. 203.

    cope

    August 5, 2017 at 12:12 pm

    @HinTN: Sounds good.

  204. 204.

    NotMax

    August 5, 2017 at 12:12 pm

    @BC in Illinois

    Bravo!

  205. 205.

    Uncle Cosmo

    August 5, 2017 at 12:13 pm

    @david spikes: “Total annular eclipse” is an oxymoron. If you can see a ring (annulus) of the sun’s disk around the moon, it ain’t total, & everything that’s been said about “less than 100% is pretty much worthless, it just gets kinda dark & then light again” applies.

  206. 206.

    Uncle Cosmo

    August 5, 2017 at 12:15 pm

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: I just hope any Left Coast morning mist has burned off by the time the umbra comes knocking on your door. Good viewing!

  207. 207.

    Uncle Cosmo

    August 5, 2017 at 12:21 pm

    @Mike in NC: Dart boards can be found in many department stores.

  208. 208.

    Interstadial

    August 5, 2017 at 12:24 pm

    This info has got to get out to BJers even if this thread is on life support and almost nobody sees this post.

    Please do not use photographic film or other homemade filters. In most cases these will let through lots of infrared which will damage your retina. Completely exposed black and white film has been known to work, but color film is a big no-no. It’s best to not take a chance.

    There are no pain receptors in your retina and you can’t see infrared, so you’ll think things are just fine as you damage your eyesight. The damage may not show up for hours, BTW.

  209. 209.

    Uncle Cosmo

    August 5, 2017 at 12:28 pm

    @J R in WV: Glad you saw the earlier comment!

    I strongly urge you not “blow it off” with a negative forecast if there’s any chance the clouds might break.

    Totality for the August 1999 Euroclipse ran right through Munich. Helmut Kohl & the German bigwigs camped out at the Olympic stadium, while science enthusiasts gathered at the Deutsches Museum (Germany’s Smithsonian equivalent) on an island in the Isar River. At the stadium it poured rain through totality. At the museum the clouds broke just before second contact & the people had a glorious view.

    A la the Great Gretzky: You miss 100% of the total solar eclipses you don’t get into the path of totality for.

    Good viewing!

  210. 210.

    feathers

    August 5, 2017 at 12:35 pm

    I’ll leave this on another thread as well. A friend is headed to Wyoming, she is uptight and comfortable in that identity, made her plans nearly a year ago. Talked with her eye doctor about glasses and he told her not to trust any of them. He is about to retire and remembers the New England eclipse of 1970 by the flood of patients they had the next day, not all of whom fully recovered their sight. My friend is diabetic and has managed to keep her eyes healthy, so she’s not going to risk it.

    I’m wondering if there are going to be stories about people who’ve been living with the eye damage all these years.

  211. 211.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    August 5, 2017 at 12:52 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo: Thanks! Starting to get more excited about the big event!

  212. 212.

    Uncle Cosmo

    August 5, 2017 at 1:18 pm

    @Interstadial: IIRC the major risk to retinas is just before second contact & just after third, i.e., when the visible sun is just a sliver – the ambient light is dim enough to dilate the pupils, which lets the still significant amount of IR from the sliver of sun through to burn the retina. My guess is the bigger risk is at C3 when the sliver suddenly reappears & catches anyone without eye protection (& I do mean suddenly – the umbra is moving across the earth’s surface at about half a mile a second).

    Anyone who’s out there without eclipse glasses can probably minimize the hazard with a couple of pieces of white cardboard & a countdown stopwatch with a chime. Poke a pinhole in one of the pieces of cardboard & hold it up to the sun (do not look at the sun!!!)so the disk is projected onto the other; at the proper separation (fiddle with it) you’ll see the moon taking a larger & larger bite out of the sun’s disk

    Meanwhile set the stopwatch for (say) 10 seconds less than the duration of totality where you are (again, use this interactive Google map to obtain that number & subtract a couple of seconds).

    When the sun’s disk completely disappears on the cardboard – if “shadow bands” have shown up, a couple of seconds after them – & it’s really dark, count off a few seconds, then start the stopwatch & look up. **

    When the stopwatch beeps (a few seconds before the sun’s disk starts to emerge), look away.

    And Bob’s your second cousin twice removed.

    ** I’m not sure if it’s safe to check the sun’s reflection in your car’s windshield – it might be if the glass doesn’t reflect significant amounts of IR (anyone know?) – but if it is, the presence of the corona spiking out from the moon’s disk & the absence of Bailey’s beads would be the cue that it’s safe to look directly.

  213. 213.

    Uncle Cosmo

    August 5, 2017 at 1:29 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo: It may well be safer to set up that “pinhole camera” behind glass – either your car windshield or a (closed!) sunroof, depending on how high the sun will be – since glass tends to block IR (cf. greenhouses). Or to keep tabs on a reflection on a (slightly convex) piece of glass held behind the windshield or sunroof. This needs to be run by some optics people.

  214. 214.

    J R in WV

    August 5, 2017 at 2:20 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    “I shall be buying some welding glasses today. Who knew?”

    Be sure to get #14 filter glass, the darkest available.

  215. 215.

    david spikes

    August 5, 2017 at 3:58 pm

    @HinTN: No, I save it for the wonderful.

  216. 216.

    jayboat

    August 5, 2017 at 4:26 pm

    Lots of great advice in this thread, thanks- you pack of jackals.

    I’ll be in an area of total blackout… somewhere in Missouri close to Lake of the Ozarks.
    Will be traveling in the rv, I have options about where to stop and view… so now the research begins.
    Up until reading this thread I was happy just to be able to see it, but now I’m actually excited.

    Not, ‘Trump gets impeached’ excited, but… well, you know.

  217. 217.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    August 5, 2017 at 6:31 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo: Thanks. Clayton, Georgia will have roughly two minutes, 30 seconds of totality, which is why I’m staying there. I hope to snap a few pics and have a little bit of time to just take it all in.

  218. 218.

    thomasthomason

    August 5, 2017 at 7:21 pm

    @Baud: An Aurora Borealis is absolutely bucket list worthy. I used to live far enough north to catch small glimpses, but then I visited Alaska and saw the real thing.

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