Some people apparently flew in from other countries, or drove or flew in from other states, to those states where a total eclipse was expected. I selected to stay where I was. Some people bought special glasses to view the eclipse, others made their own viewing boxes. The local branch of the library held an event this morning and the first 30 people who participated were given free eclipse-viewing glasses. I debated attending the event; if daughter was home and younger, I might have taken her and gone. If it had been a total eclipse, I probably would have gone. Instead, I chose to stay at home and watch it from my backyard using very low tech ways.
On the morning of the eclipse, the skies above my house were clear and blue:
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| Clear Blue Skies |
The sun shone brightly, but I didn't want to point the cell phone camera directly at the sun:
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| A Hint of the Brightly Shining Sun |
The garden was bathed in sunshine:
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| Back Garden on the Morning of the Eclipse |
I took a small paper plate, leftover from my daughter's 16th birthday, and make a pin hole with a thumb tack:
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| Paper Plate Eclipse Viewer |
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| The Pinhole (just below the sparkle star) |
And a large white envelope which I propped up on one of the lemon trees. With my back to the sun, I held the paper plate up so that the pinpoint focused the reflection of the eclipse onto the envelope:
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| Low Tech Reflection of the Eclipse |
I don't know why the white envelope appears blue in the pictures - I didn't expect that!
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| Another View |
In fact, as I told daughter (she said it was foggy up in Berkeley and she couldn't see anything - she watched the eclipse on-line, instead!), if one didn't know there was an eclipse going on, one would not have known in by any change in the sunlight. At least not here, where the eclipse was only about 60%. But I was happy to have known that I experienced it and managed to capture an image.
I also watched the live coverage of the total eclipse on the various news channels. It was very exciting, although I felt sorry for the people whose view was obstructed by clouds.
Today, I was grateful I could witness the partial eclipse of the sun from my backyard even in such a low tech manner.
Did you experience the eclipse where you live? Were you able to watch it in person? Or did you watch it on-line or on the TV?
This is fantastic - I love your pinhole viewer, and the photos. The BBC here in Britain sent a reporter to the USA and so we saw it on the TV news. It looked amazing!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Angela. Extremely low tech viewer, but it served the purpose. I'm glad you were able to watch it on TV.
DeleteTo be honest I wasn't interested in the eclipse and we had a big rainstorm with huge dark clouds obscuring the whole sky move in right when it was supposed to be at its fullest for us (I think we were in the 85 to 90% range?!) so it really was a non-event here. I'm only glad I didn't waste any money on buying special glasses and I felt bad for our librarians who had put on an event for the patrons (we didn't go because I had checked the weather earlier and seen that it was going to rain). I didn't watch it online either.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed what you saw, though, and that you got to do it from your own home without getting stuck in traffic somewhere! Apparently there's another one coming in 7 years.
Apparently the one place in Illinois, I believe, where it was supposed to be a prime viewing area, had a cloud cover and all those who had come to watch could only catch a glimpse of it between a break in the clouds. There were a lot of disappointed people, I'm sure.
DeleteI tend to get all excited about these things and I've woken daughter up at midnight to watch meteor showers, etc. She laughs at me, but I don't mind.
Yes, there's another eclipse in 2024! On April 8! My step-father's birthday! I should call his niece who lives in Texas where there will be a total eclipse and invite myself over! :D
We watched outside in our driveway and yard with viewing glasses that I got from the library. Some of the neighbors came over and we shared our glasses. It was really cool. We had an 80% eclipse and it did get a little darker, but it was not dark.
ReplyDeleteOh, I am glad to hear that you were able to see it, Live and Learn. Very nice of you to share your glasses with the neighbors. :)
DeleteI'm glad that you were able to "watch" the partial eclipse. We "saw" about the same amount in Ontario, using one lense of a pair of binoculars to focus the sun onto a sheet of white paper, and it was so hard to get them at the correct angle. It didn't help that the sun kept hiding behind clouds, but we did succeed and I got a couple of photographs something like yours to commemorate the event. What an amazing phenomenon and even more amazing that it can be predicted down to the exact time! I vaguely remember watching a partial eclipse as a child in England in 1954.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing a partial eclipse, once before, too, but have yet to experience a total eclipse in person. I am glad to hear you were able to watch some of it, where you are. I'm sure we'll hear more about this eclipse and what the scientists were able to learn in the weeks to come. :)
DeleteWe were at 98% here. It was pretty cool. 2:30 in the afternoon and the crickets were out and all the street lights came on. Just felt like late evening. I work in the school now and they purchased glasses for all staff and children. Cancelled school and sent glasses home with children, but staff had to work. We all went outside on the front lawn to watch.
ReplyDeleteJess, it's so lovely to hear from you again! Wow, 98% is as close as totality, I think! That's great that you were able to watch it! Glad to hear you are working in the school now. Please give your little boy a hug from me. He must be getting quite big now!
DeleteWe turned the TV on to watch Sky News and the presenter was in Oregan reporting on the eclipse. We were all set to sit and watch it happen when she announced 'only 23 hours to go'. What?! Who on earth is interested in watching a news reporter talking about what's going to happen in 23 hours. Not me for sure. I turned the channel over and watched something far more interesting lol.
ReplyDeleteLove you DIY eclipse viewer by the way. xx
Oh, Suzanne, I am sorry you were not able to watch the eclipse on TV - probably due to the time difference. Oregon had a total eclipse which started around 9:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on August 21, but it was probably already the 22nd in England by then.
DeleteWe were at 90% here. We did the same as you, put a tiny hole in a paper. It did get really dark here , all of a sudden..It was really shocking..
ReplyDelete90% is great! I'm glad you were able to experience it, Judy. I hope your grandchildren did, too. It will be something they'll remember all their lives.
DeleteIn 1979, there was a total eclipse of the sun over Winnipeg. I was teaching in Thunder Bay at the time (about 4 hours away). I didn't see that eclipse either because we were in the darkened gym watching all of it on TV screens. Every precaution was taken to keep the school kids from looking up at the sun....black-out drapes and papered windows. Haha. But it will happen again in 2024, and my area will again be in the viewing area (much closer than 1979) and I plan on experiencing it then.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful plan, Susan. I've some family in Texas and the 2024 eclipse is supposed to pass right over Texas - I might tell them to expect a visit from me! It'll occur on my stepfather's birthday and these relatives are actually his nieces and nephews - we could get together and celebrate!
DeleteWe watched it online since I had my oldest grandson here with us. I did sit on the back porch away from the sun and watched as things got darker here...it was eerie! We had about a 94% coverage of the sun. My friends took pictures of the shadows coming down through the leaves on trees and it was so cool!
ReplyDeleteDebbie, I'm glad you got to experience the eclipse with your grandson. I hope he will remember it, when he's older. I wish I had thought to take pictures of the shadows, but I didn't. Oh, well. :)
DeleteOur backyard was in the prime viewing location, so we stayed home. I was canning pears and I would go out and look, can some more, and go out and look some more. It was amazing when it got dark in the middle of the morning! I loved it!
ReplyDeleteHi Becky, so glad to hear that you were able to experience the eclipse from your backyard!
DeleteBeing it was one of our first Teacher Workdays of the new school year, my principal planned (or convinced our science department to plan) an Eclipse Party as a team-building activity. When I first found out about it, I thought it was a bit too "cutsey" for my taste, but it turned out being a pretty fun afternoon. Each department was asked to bring something to share with our colleagues such as themed drinks and snacks. I work at a high school with approximately 1800 students, so we have quite a large staff. We spent some time before the actual event creating low-tech viewers using cereal boxes (some folks also brought their special glasses) and we could bring a black t-shirt to create a special design the Science department had designed. I actually did end up picking up a plain shirt at the store (for $2.97) while I bought the couple of items I needed to finish my contribution, but I ended up getting busy doing something else and forgot about the creating part! Anyway, the party turned out being a fun because I figured if the Science department had gone spent their time planning for it, I should go in with a positive attitude...and it worked! My co-workers went "all out" and we had some creative treats (moon-pies, Starburst & Milkyway candy, sun drop soda, homemade goodies and tons more). I made a version of this Galaxy Bark (http://www.lifewiththecrustcutoff.com/galaxy-bark/) that ended up being a hit as well. I was able to view the Eclipse through my handmade viewer as well as borrowed glasses from my co-worker. It was pretty cool to see here in North Carolina.
ReplyDeleteJoy, that sounds like a very fun party! Good of you to participate with a positive attitude and get into the spirit of it. I tend to get excited about these sort of things and my daughter doesn't understand what all the fuss is about, now that she's older. I'd get all enthused and she'd either roll her eyes or say that I'm cute because I get so excited! LOL. That Galaxy Bark looks great! Very creative!
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