Millions of people watched the Total Solar Eclipse on the 21st. Many more people saw just a partial solar eclipse, which is still fascinating to see.
As you probably know by now, a Total Solar Eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, casting a shadow over a small part of the Earth. They only happen about once every 100 years if you stay in the same place. Many people will travel around the world to see as many Total Solar Eclipses as possible.
As mentioned in an earlier post, I was able to travel to witness totality. My brother was kind enough to fly me to a little farming town in Idaho called Mud Lake. They have a very small airport there, which is basically a large field with a runway, mainly used for crop dusting. The radio was abuzz with other pilots and air traffic controllers for the whole trip there, which was approximately an hour and a half. It seemed that others had the same idea to skip the traffic of driving and fly. With the airport being so small, I was getting nervous that we would not be able to land and park the plane to watch the eclipse. We didn't arrive until shortly after the eclipse had begun but the air traffic controller for Mud Lake, an older man standing at the end of the runway, let us land and directed us to a parking area.
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| The plane, binoculars, and camera. |
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| The plane with others in the background. |
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| Planes and people. |
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| Panorama with my brother and the Moon's shadow approaching. |
I'm estimating that there was over 50 airplanes and other types of aircraft that had landed. There was a row of airplanes facing the runway with another row behind them which were backed in so that the tail of the craft was between the wings of two others. My brother and I quickly set up our gear, two cameras and my binoculars with solar filters as well as two chairs, that didn't get used much. My pictures taken with my camera on a tripod did not turn out, but my brother was able to do a time lapse that I hope turned out well. I also tried taking pictures with my smartphone through my binoculars which also were disappointing, but I will share one or two of those. Surprisingly, my best pictures came during totality.
This was my first Total Solar Eclipse and I was not left disappointed. After setting up all of our gear, and after letting a few nearby people take a look through the binoculars, the temperature and the daytime brightness started to drop. We were even able to seen sunspots through the binoculars. By the time totality arrived, it felt like the temperature had dropped at least 15 degrees. The landscape went completely dark and I could even see Venus and Sirius in the sky, as well as other bright stars. Totality looked just like the pictures that many people have seen with the corona of the Sun easily visible. This felt like the shortest two minutes of my life! After the Moon moved away from the Sun, I had to wear eye protection again because it was too bright with just 1% of the Sun shining down on Earth. At this time, I noticed a couple of evening birds flying for cover that must have come out while the shadow of the Moon was over us. The airport landing lights automatically came on during this time as well.
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| View through binoculars just before totality. |
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| Totality with smartphone, auto mode. |
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| Totality with smartphone, manual mode. |
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| This is called the Diamond Ring. |
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| View through binoculars after totality. |
I felt astonished and privileged to have been able to witness this event. It completely took my breath away perhaps in the same way as people feel when first visiting the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, or any other National Park.
If you have never witnessed a total solar eclipse, you need to make a point of seeing one. You will likely have to travel to see it, but it is totally worth it.
Now get outside and look up!
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