2024 Solar Eclipse - never too early to get ready

[Js1 85292]

13 hours ago, WBT said:

Spain would be awesome.  Too bad Barcelona is only at 99.8% obscurity but it looks like Valencia and Mallorca will get totality.  Hmm.

This is the one my friends and I are aiming for.  2026 will be 10 years since the three of us went to Spain/Portugal - seems like a perfect time to go back! 

[utee94 15808]

9 minutes ago, Js1 said:

This is the one my friends and I are aiming for.  2026 will be 10 years since the three of us went to Spain/Portugal - seems like a perfect time to go back! 

Sounds like it's time for you to start the "2026 Spanish Total Solar Eclipse Never Too Early To Get Ready" thread!

 

[Gatorubet 30186]

 

 

[Brisketexan 105079]

3 hours ago, Wally Fairway said:

Is there a secret squirril version of this story, where the wife and hotshot TED talker show you their appreciation of the great brisket? 
Asking for a friend

Wouldn't have objected if there was.

[deft 6842]

Okay, just got the chance to hop on here about our experience.  We went out to a ranch in Llano, had a group of 17 folks camping out there.  My wife's cousin is a hot-shot astronomer, and they have a group that travels to see as many total eclipses as possible, so we were talking about plans and best ways to make this local eclipse happen starting four years ago.
We go great weather, and the best wildflower display in 20+ years -- was really cool to show Texas off to them, coming from AZ, CA, PA Germany, and Spain.  Several beloved family members, but also their friends.   And....we knew these were "hotshot astronomers," but we really didn't realize HOW hotshot.  Sunday evening, we're gazing up at the night sky and getting some explanations from the woman who fucking LEADS the SSDS (the project that is literally mapping.....everything in the universe.  All of it.  The whole known universe.  You can watch her damned TED talk about it).  That evening, I got to sit by the fire and sip a beer as she quizzed my wife, with genuine curiosity, about some big theological questions.  I just sat there, drank my beer, looked at the stars, and listened to two incredibly smart women engage each other.  And we got to hang out with the head of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, who is fucking cool as hell.  Oh, and he gets to be in charge of building and stoking the campfire -- it's his thing, don't take that away from him.  Or Bernhard, who is an eclipse junkie, and also in the Nobel Prize talk for his work in mathematics and AI (he's a pioneer of "causality," using math to determine whether different astronomical phenomena are coincidental or caused, in short form.  His work helped find exoplanets, including the first one found in the habitable zone).  Also, he fucking loved my brisket, and ate it three meals in a row.
We were like everyone else, tracking the clouds carefully, gambling on whether we should stay where we were or try to chase it.  Bernhard chose to chase it, and he got a good view.  We chose to stay, and we got a perfect view -- the clouds broke a few minutes before, and stayed clear the entire time.  I don't know what I was expecting....but what we saw was MUCH more awesome than I expected.  We were all grinning and laughing and patting each other on the back at how amazing the experience was.  We hung out after and had a nice lunch, then broke camp a bit earlier than planned because of the forecast for stormy weather.  Several of them didn't have a place to stay Monday night because they'd planned on camping.  We have lots of room in our house, so we told them to bunk with us, and they did.
That evening, we sat around the table bullshitting, eating leftovers (Bernhard heated up brisket, again), and just having a damned pleasant visit.  Again, with people who have their own freaking Wikipedia pages.  We have an invitation to come and stay in Heidelberg now.  AND....Bernhard's wife is Spanish, and has family in the zone of totality for the August 2026 eclipse that will pass over Spain, so we started talking plans for that.  
It was an amazing experience on its own, objectively.  It was made even better by being in a place so near and dear to us, that we could show off with some pride.  And then made even better by experiencing it with family and new friends.
TLDR: if you haven't experienced a total eclipse, and think it's no big deal, think again.  It's a top-5 lifetime experience, highly recommend.  And experience it with great people, that makes it even better.
 
Oh, I still need to get a good emailed version of this, but this is a shot of the photo up on my TV - Bernhard shared it with us all Monday evening.  He has a friend on the ISS, and when he realized when she would be there, he told her the timing and angle to get a good shot of the eclipse.  So she took this one, and sent it to him via WhatsApp (yep, they have WhatsApp access on the ISS):

All them smarty pants there and you didn’t ask one of em to pull your finger

[utbone04 15]

On 4/9/2024 at 12:29 PM, crimsonlonghorn said:

I have never heard anyone who saw a total eclipse for the first time say, "That was lame. What a letdown."

Most people - as evidenced by this thread - say, "HOLY SHIT! THAT WAS AWESOME AND EXCEEDED MY EXPECTATIONS!"

But there are lots of people who have never seen one who will still say, "What's the big deal?" They are also usually the same people who say, "Well, it's going to be __% here at my house. That's close enough."

After we went to Missouri in 2017 and saw that one, I knew it was going to be worth driving and sitting in traffic to see it again this time. 

 

For those people who keep on saying "What's the big deal?", I just say that it's like sex and totality is the orgasm of the eclipse. You just have to experience it yourself to fully "get it". Otherwise you'll have a case of blue balls your entire life.

[Wally Fairway 5541]

If you want to donate your dollar eclipse glasses, Astronauts without borders has collection partners. 

https://astronomerswithoutborders.org/programs/solar-glasses-distribution

[KYHorn 17015]

Unedited because it's just not the same:

 

[Born to Run 6569]

[/url] Unedited because it's just not the same:
 

Gomez Palacio holla!

[chainsaw 9859]

15 minutes ago, KYHorn said:

[YGIFS 19449]

We name meteor showers, constellations, comets, most astronomical phenomenon.  

If the next solar eclipse isn't officially named "The Palacio Totality"..............then I'm not participating.  

[GopherRock 1765]

2 hours ago, KYHorn said:

Unedited because it's just not the same:

 

Obligatory 

 

 

[Biff Tannen 45665]

On 4/10/2024 at 10:10 AM, Brisketexan said:

Okay, just got the chance to hop on here about our experience.  We went out to a ranch in Llano, had a group of 17 folks camping out there.  My wife's cousin is a hot-shot astronomer, and they have a group that travels to see as many total eclipses as possible, so we were talking about plans and best ways to make this local eclipse happen starting four years ago.

We go great weather, and the best wildflower display in 20+ years -- was really cool to show Texas off to them, coming from AZ, CA, PA Germany, and Spain.  Several beloved family members, but also their friends.   And....we knew these were "hotshot astronomers," but we really didn't realize HOW hotshot.  Sunday evening, we're gazing up at the night sky and getting some explanations from the woman who fucking LEADS the SSDS (the project that is literally mapping.....everything in the universe.  All of it.  The whole known universe.  You can watch her damned TED talk about it).  That evening, I got to sit by the fire and sip a beer as she quizzed my wife, with genuine curiosity, about some big theological questions.  I just sat there, drank my beer, looked at the stars, and listened to two incredibly smart women engage each other.  And we got to hang out with the head of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, who is fucking cool as hell.  Oh, and he gets to be in charge of building and stoking the campfire -- it's his thing, don't take that away from him.  Or Bernhard, who is an eclipse junkie, and also in the Nobel Prize talk for his work in mathematics and AI (he's a pioneer of "causality," using math to determine whether different astronomical phenomena are coincidental or caused, in short form.  His work helped find exoplanets, including the first one found in the habitable zone).  Also, he fucking loved my brisket, and ate it three meals in a row.

We were like everyone else, tracking the clouds carefully, gambling on whether we should stay where we were or try to chase it.  Bernhard chose to chase it, and he got a good view.  We chose to stay, and we got a perfect view -- the clouds broke a few minutes before, and stayed clear the entire time.  I don't know what I was expecting....but what we saw was MUCH more awesome than I expected.  We were all grinning and laughing and patting each other on the back at how amazing the experience was.  We hung out after and had a nice lunch, then broke camp a bit earlier than planned because of the forecast for stormy weather.  Several of them didn't have a place to stay Monday night because they'd planned on camping.  We have lots of room in our house, so we told them to bunk with us, and they did.

That evening, we sat around the table bullshitting, eating leftovers (Bernhard heated up brisket, again), and just having a damned pleasant visit.  Again, with people who have their own freaking Wikipedia pages.  We have an invitation to come and stay in Heidelberg now.  AND....Bernhard's wife is Spanish, and has family in the zone of totality for the August 2026 eclipse that will pass over Spain, so we started talking plans for that.  

It was an amazing experience on its own, objectively.  It was made even better by being in a place so near and dear to us, that we could show off with some pride.  And then made even better by experiencing it with family and new friends.

TLDR: if you haven't experienced a total eclipse, and think it's no big deal, think again.  It's a top-5 lifetime experience, highly recommend.  And experience it with great people, that makes it even better.

 

Oh, I still need to get a good emailed version of this, but this is a shot of the photo up on my TV - Bernhard shared it with us all Monday evening.  He has a friend on the ISS, and when he realized when she would be there, he told her the timing and angle to get a good shot of the eclipse.  So she took this one, and sent it to him via WhatsApp (yep, they have WhatsApp access on the ISS):

 

On 4/10/2024 at 10:34 AM, Brisketexan said:

It's because you touch yourself at night.

And during the darkness of an eclipse.  A sort of "bonus round" for you sick bastards.

These two back to back are why and how Brisket personifies this whole site sometimes.

[Jersey Man10 3528]

Does anyone’s eyes still hurt?

[Blotto 23491]

18 minutes ago, Jersey Man10 said:

Does anyone’s eyes still hurt?

You might have more luck here: https://texags.com/forums

[Wally Pryor 5261]

On 4/8/2024 at 8:41 PM, immamac said:

worth hosting here.

 

Holy shit. That's incredible. 

[TexPx 2322]

An eclipse in Iceland sounds like a fucking plan.  

Looks like Reykjavik only gets one minute of totality. Still, Iceland in August would be pretty awesome. Thinking about cashing in some miles.

https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/iceland/reykjavik?iso=20260812

[Eastwood 4394]

11 hours ago, Jersey Man10 said:

Does anyone’s eyes still hurt?

If Surly had a yearbook, you’d win “Most likely to stare at an eclipse without protective glasses.”

[TexasEd 8066]

On 4/8/2024 at 2:29 PM, Hagbard Celine said:

someone smarter than me needs to capture this series of images and make a .gif

load it right now and you can see the giant 1000-mile wide blob of darkness travel through texas

pretty incredible

https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES/sector_band.php?sat=G16&sector=sp&band=01&length=24

 

NOAA did it

https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/data/Eclipse2024/GOESSite/Eclipse_CONUS_GEOCOLOR_Umbra_Cities_Branding.mp4

[Nicole44 22059]

I need this tshirt!

 

 

[AUS-97HORN 11757]

19 minutes ago, BeardIP said:

Maybe this is for the unpopular opinion thread but....why does the CO-OP feel the need to make a freaking shirt for everything. It's unbecoming and beneath us. 

because they are obviously run by former Greeks. 

[Captain Ron 12872]

So one of the Delta flights that was supposed to fly along the path of totality - FAA said NOPE!

 

https://wapo.st/3w1aV5s

 

Quote

Delta told The Washington Post on Friday that air traffic controllers would not allow the plane traveling from Dallas to Detroit to make the turns it had planned to accommodate both sides of the plane.

The flight was slightly off-set from the path of totality, Delta said, as air traffic control managed severe congestion and a flood of special maneuver requests along the path of the eclipse. While another Delta flight from Austin was permitted to climb to the right altitude to complete a maneuver called an S-curve, the airline said the Dallas flight was not.

...

Instead of its planned maneuvers, Delta’s Airbus A321neo flew in a circle to give both sides a look from 33,000 feet. But passengers didn’t get the view they expected.

 

[BamaATL 16593]

Just got back from our excursion, we were lucky enough to have great weather in Southern Missouri, it was an amazing thing to see.  If you didn't and ever get the chance, I can't recommend it enough.  A couple of days later we were tracking back to Atlanta and went thru the middle of nowhere Arkansas and stopped for gas.  I got a shirt well discounted that says "I got mooned in Arkansas".  That was something that just screamed class, I had to have it.  

[Trey3216 15345]

On 4/12/2024 at 11:55 AM, Eastwood said:

If Surly had a yearbook, you’d win “Most likely to stare at an eclipse without protective glasses.”

But did he cum or what?