Solar Eclipse April 8th 2024

Has anyone on PF ever experienced the full totality of a solar eclipse? Im planning on waking up at 4am and driving some 300 miles south to witness 4 minutes of darkness.

The next total solar eclipse visible in the United States won't be until 2044, so this is my chance. Ive never done this before.

eclipse.siu.edu/

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About 2 million moons could fit inside the sun, according to NASA.

So an ant can fully overshadow an elephant on steroids? People wake up - the sun has the same size as the moon and rotates on the same orbits within the same distance from the Earth (about 80 miles).

Not me, I saw a partial one when I was a kid, but not a total one.
Good luck mate!

In 1999, there was a complete solar eclipse.

@Joker

Where are you driving to see it?

Carbondale, Illinois the Eclipse crossroads.


2017 they had an eclipse at the same location.

Southern Illinois Crossroads Eclipse Festival
April 8, 2024 · 1:59 p.m. CDT
Carbondale, IL

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People have been showing up in droves at the doctors offices with burnt retinas because of looking directly at the sun.
I'm glad that it didn't interest me in the least.
I made a pot of homemade tomato soup instead. 🥣

That post was pure genius.

BTW, I noticed that the sun is eclipsed by Earth once a day. We call it "night" here.

Its was worth the the 650 miles round trip drive and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. It was totally amazing and photos dont do it justice.

Next one is 2045 and Im planning on going to Orlando and seeing it:)

I drove 5000 miles in 13 days for less so I understand why you did this trip. As JR said, looking at the sun comes with the risk I am not willing to take - with glasses or without...

How were the crowds and the traffic? Did you stay overnight?

We left at 3am and made it to Mcleansboro fairgrounds by 8:30

This place wasnt as crowded as Carbondale and reminded me of a county fair that only lasts 4 hours...lol

The drive home kind of sucked it took around 9 hours. I would have planned an overnight trip but there were calling for rain the entire week then it changed at the last forecast.

It was an amazing spectacle to watch and I never expected it to have such a big impact on me.. Next, Im want to see the Aurora Borealis. Im thinking Alaska or Iceland:)

Here is my problem...We and 3 am. My wife won't even go to Lake Geneva and I get up at 9 am.

Mine wont wake up early either, so I dont even try anymore lol. "We" was my daughter and I. She has a rather expensive telescope and had been talking about the eclipse for months beforehand. She took some amazing photos as well.

Oh, I'd like to see it too :)))


I like your daughter already - I'm a stargazer too :D Could you post her photos by any chance (if she allows, of course)?

Post it anyway...She will forgive you...

She likes it when ppl ask to see her photos:)

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All I have to do is stay alive until 2045 for the next solar eclipse:)

You can see like little red dots during the eclipse with your naked eye. Its actually flames shooting off the sun.

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Wow! Those are amazing photos Joker. Wish I'd been there! Looks like it was well worth the trip. Thanks for posting them :)


Solar flares?

They are quite common here in Northern Michigan. (God's country)
Just two weeks ago they were spectacular here in Nothern Michigan

youtube.com/watch?v=WBSOP7_WlXA

Google: Aurora Borealis in Northern Michigan

@ Joker

Do you know what make and model that telescope is? I googled StarBright XLT which I thought was the brand, but it's an optical coating system.

No wonder! ;D

Wow, those photos are AWESOME! :O 😍

Thanks for posting them!


Wooooow... So cool!! Are those her photos too??


Is this Celestron Nexstar? :O

Me too! And with that telescope! ;D 🤩

@Joker, I'm guessing that she put some solar filter on the telescope?

I want one! I can't believe how compact they are these days. Many years ago we had a telescope but it was a great big bulky thing that took up loads of space.

This one looks like Celestron from Nexstar SE series (I just don't know which size/model exactly, because they range from 4 SE to 8 SE, I think). 🤔


If I'm correct about the model then it's a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope:

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt%E2%80%93Cassegrain_telescope

It combines the best of two worlds - of a refractor telescope (good for observing larger and brighter objects like the Moon and planets) and a reflector telescope (good for deep space objects like galaxies and nebulae):

littleastronomy.com/schmidt-cassegrain-telescope-pros-and-cons/

@Joker, does your daughter have other photos too?? Of the Moon? Planets? Star clusters? Galaxies? Nebulae? 🌕🪐✨ 🤩

Its the SE 8 model. I bought it for her birthday last year and she loves it:)


She has tons of moonshots with her old dobsonian telescope. Thats the one that looks like a big tube. I saw some cool shots from Saturn she took. Now, that the weather is warming up, Im sure shell be going out more often.


Of course, or you will fry out the sensor. Youre supposed to take it off when 100% totality occurs. I think she did a job for her first eclipse, its not like you can practice for these things.


Those last two are from another astro photographer, really amazing. I wanted to show the solar flares,


It looked like a tiny red dot and the bottom of the sun and the corona was shimmering and constantly changing. Ive been calling it angel hair light as Im lost for words.


It has a computer star tracking system or you can control it manually.

celestron.com/products/nexstar-8se-computerized-telescope


Ill have to check that out someday, but I really want to go to Alaska:)

You know your telescopes Paulina!


Thanks for that info Joker :)

When I went to college they suggested we take astronomy classes in the wintertime because the air and atmosphere is much clearer.


I wouldn't suggest going there in the summer as the mosquito's are horrendously thick and big even though the sockeye salmon run starts in the middle of July.

Nothing beats a FRESH sockeye on the grill.

@Jokers Daughter
Another recommendation I would suggest for your daughter this summer is to visit The Headlands International Dark Park in Mackinaw City Michigan.
They have an observatory there and is recognized internationally.
They have a huge telescope there that you can look thru, or you can bring your own.
It is a very beautiful spot and very surreal and safe place to visit with ZERO crime.
Sometimes the shooting stars there just don't stop for hours on end.
No artificial white lights are allowed.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Headlands

midarkskypark.org/stargazing/northern-lights/

facebook.com/headlandsdarkskypark/photos

@Joker
Bring your e bike for the bike paths up there.
Then go into Mackinaw City (about 3 miles or so) for a rack of ribs ($25+ tip) at the Key Hole bar and you might see me OR go across the street to Scalawags Whitefish and Chips and I will be sitting outside having a three piece whitefish basket with coleslaw and fries and a root beer. $20 and no tip)

And if they are packed walk down to the corner and try the Dixie Saloon, they have great food too.
Darrow's family restaurant in Mackinaw has the best deep fried white fish in the State IMO ($25+tip)
Mackinaw City hotels and Mackinaw Island employ over 1000 Jamaican workers for the summer and they have a restaurant of their own in the Crossings (behind Scalawags) that serve exclusively authentic Jamaican food..(Jerk chicken, bammy, curry goat, Ackee and saltfish with excellent Rasta reggae playing that you have never heard before, straight from the mountains back home.(Mostly Jamaicans go there) (Novi wouldn't like the atmosphere there I am afraid.)

Lume's shop is just down the road where you can buy marijuana legally if you are 420 friendly for as low as $25 an ounce up to the face shaker like you like for $10 a gram they tell me.

Do not stay at the hotels and motels in Mackinaw or you will pay $300 to $400 a night, ask Novi.
Stay at the motel across from the Pellston airport for half that which is about 10 miles south of Mackinaw.
Or bring your tent and camp in Wilderness State Park right on Lake Michigan with a shower and electric. (What a spot for an e bike)

Click on the little hard to see arrows on the pictures to see the bike path and the park.

www2.dnr.state.mi.us/parksandtrails/details.aspx?id=509&type=SPRK

Stop at Krueger's Fish Market in Mackinaw and get some fresh smoked fish (Lake Trout, Menominee or Whitefish out of Lake Michigan) and a box of crackers and some cheese for your bike trip. (The best but pricey)

I should be a tour guide.